‘More folk OK with jamming’

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang on Saturday was confident that more people would understand, rather than complain, about the jamming of cell phone signals as part of security measures during Pope Francis’ four-day state and pastoral visit to Manila and Tacloban City.

“I think that more than the complaints, I think many were very understanding of the security measures that we needed to take and we thank everyone for that, and we thank everyone for bearing with the situation,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

Mobile phone communications have been a nightmare for many as signals in Metro Manila areas where the Pope has had activities have gone dead, as part of the security measures imposed by the authorities.

Netizens have taken to social media to complain about the signal disruptions but the authorities defended the safety precaution.

In text advisories the past days, telecommunications company Globe said the loss of mobile signals and Internet connections was “done for security reasons in compliance with the government’s directive.”

On Saturday, Smart’s text advisory invoked the “government’s security measures for the papal visit” as the reason cellular operators “may again be ordered to temporarily suspend services in Metro Manila on Sunday and Monday a.m. [morning].” Nikko Dizon