All telecommunication companies will shut down network services in areas of Quiapo and the routes of the procession during the Feast of Black Nazarene on Monday.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said in an advisory that this was being done upon the request of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for “security purposes.”
PNP Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa earlier said in an interview with DZBB that they have requested the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to either jam or completely shut down the signals in the areas of the procession.
“Ang request namin kung pwede nga ‘di lang i-jam kung ‘di i-shut down talaga ang signal sa area na ‘yan (prusisyon) para makasiguro tayo,” he said.
(We requested them not just do jam but shut down the signal in areas that will be passed by the procession just so we can be sure.)
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Though the DICT did not include a specific time of the shutdown or how long the effect of signal interruption would be, dela Rosa said it will be from morning until the procession ends. In the past years, the procession usually ended at dawn of the next day.
“For public security reasons, upon the instructions of the National Telecommunications Commission and the Philippine National Police, we will temporarily shut down mobile phone services in Quiapo, Manila and along the route of the Black Nazarene procession on Monday, January 9,” Telecom company Smart said in a statement.
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They will restore the services as soon as they get a green light from the authorities, Smart added. IDL/rga