CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Residents in this city backed the proposed signal jamming for major activities of this year’s Higalaay Festival for the safety of residents and visitors.

BARANGAYS gather at the Misamis Oriental Integrated Sports Complex in Cagayan de Oro City on August 22 to play native games at ‘Fiesta sa Barrio,’ one of the core events of the Higalaay Festival 2023. (Franck Dick Rosete)

Mayflor Lorin Plaza Luib of Barangay Lapasan said signal jamming would definitely affect people’s communication but she would rather have no cellular signal for just a short period of time than have forever regrets because something terrible might happen.

"For me, yes (agreeing for signal jamming) is for safety purposes. It’s not just for the sake of one person, but that’s for all people," Luib said in the vernacular on Thursday, August 24.

Kenth Salinasal of Barangay 31 and Eric Odchigue of Barangay Carmen shared the same sentiments, adding that the measure would prevent any bomb threats during the month-long celebration of the feast of Saint Augustine, the city’s patron saint.

But for Sarah Fatima Vallar of Barangay Camaman-an, cutting signals during major events is "unnecessary," urging the police instead to strengthen their security measures.

"Actually, the best solution for ensuring people’s safety during the Higalaay Festival in Cagayan de Oro would be the security effort of the police. By doing so, the general public would not be worried," Vallar told the Manila Bulletin in a mix of English and vernacular.

Police Lt. Col. Evan Viñas, spokesperson of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO), said that they recommended signal jamming to the city government for major activities on August 27 and 28 such as the civic-military parade and float, street dance competition, fluvial, and religious procession.

The city government, Viñas said, received the COCPO’s recommendation on August 11 and asked the city police to include the rhythmic field demonstration on August 25 in the signal jamming. The recommendation was forwarded to the Police Regional Office (PRO)-10 for endorsement.

Teodoro Buenavista Jr., director of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)-Region 10, explained that the recommendation by the local police which was coordinated with the local government must be endorsed to PRO-10 and the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters before the NTC approves it.

PRO-10 spokesperson Police Major Joann Navarro told the Manila Bulletin on Thursday that the request has been forwarded to the office of PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. but she could not confirm if Acorda has forwarded the request to NTC.

Viñas said if their request is approved, they will implement "modified" signal jamming where the only affected areas are venues of the event and other nearby areas which will be identified by the NTC.

The COCPO spokesperson asked for the public’s cooperation by urging them to let some hours go by without signals just for a peaceful Higalaay Festival.

"Please bear with us, as we are implementing strict security measures and these have been effective based on what we experienced over the past Higalaay Festivals," Viñas said in vernacular in an interview on Thursday.