‘Find spots to meet kin’

Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak has advised those who will be attending the Sinulog celebration over the weekend to come up with a contingency plan on how to communicate with their family and friends following the move to shut down some cellular sites.

Tumulak said the proposal of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 to interrupt the network signal during the solemn procession on Saturday and grand parade on Sunday is part of the security measures that they will implement.

“They should set a meeting place where to meet in case they will go to separate places and things like that,” he said.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who met with officials from PRO 7 and the Central Command last Tuesday for an intelligence briefing, said he is in favor of the plan to shut down the cell sites.

“I’m in favor. It may foil a bombing (plan in the city),” he said in a text message. Also yesterday, Tumulak met with the representatives from telecommunications companies (telcos) and discussed the plan.

“They are willing to cooperate with the law enforcement agencies as regards the temporary shutdown, to be clear, of selected cell sites. Just to clarify, not all signals will be shut off, only selected cellsites covering the area of Sinulog route and procession route,” he said.

Tumulak said it was the telcos’ representatives who approached him and expressed their intention to support public order and safety during the Sinulog celebration. The police proposed the shutdown this year after the bombing incidents in other parts of the country, including the latest in Hilongos, Leyte.