The Manila Police District (MPD) said on Monday, Jan. 8, that "signal jamming" may be imposed during the Black Nazarene procession or Traslacion to ensure the security of an estimated two million devotees attending the event.
According to MPD Chief Col. Thomas Ibay, communications signals of all telecommunications companies may be temporarily disabled on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
He said they are currently coordinating the possible implementation of signal jamming to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as part of the security measures for the conduct of the Traslacion.
He added that there is no time when the signal jamming will start and end as the directives will depend on the threat assessment that will be conveyed by the Director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).
MPD advised attendees to tell their families that they may not be able to answer calls or texts because of the possibility that the communications signal will be lost.