The Philippine Online Chronicles

The Feast of the Black Nazarene, an already raucous affair, was further afflicted with a different kind of frenzy last January 9 after the Philippine government and military bared an alleged possible terrorist attack on the annual event.

Malacanang, in an unprecedented move, ordered telecommunication companies (telcos) Globe, Smart and Sun to cut off signals of mobile phones in areas in Manila where Black Nazarene devotees were expected to converge. In a press conference, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said that the move was part of the government’s preemptive measures on account of the terrorist threat.

Mobile phone lines were suspended for a greater part of the day, in some areas until the next day, earning violent reactions, confusion on the government’s overall policies following certain intelligence information, and a general feeling of panic and unease among the public.

The Feast of the Black Nazarene, an annual event that is as infamous for incidents of injuries, theft and disorder as it is famous for stories of faith-healing among devotees and believers, became that day what seemed like a militarized bubble – thousands of police deployed, a nonstandard heightened alert and with no signal to connect to the “outside” world.

Violent reactions

TXTPower quickly deplored the suspension of cellular phone services in Quiapo and expressed alarm over the decision and concern with its possible repercussions. “We…hope this will be the first and last time that they (people in Quiapo) will be cut off from the rest of the country and world. Keeping all public communication outlets, especially cellphone services, open is the public’s and the government’s sounding board against any alleged terror threats,” said TXTPower in a statement.

The group also said that the least the Office of the President, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and telcos could have done was to have made a formal announcement before the fact, along with other precautionary and alternative measures in light of the suspension of mobile services, to appease the public and prevent potential mass hysteria.

Meanwhile, reactions in Twitter and Facebook ranged from insightfulness, annoyance at the inconvenience, skepticism over the move and humor:

mikevchua: “Govt shld do something if there's real threat. If no action & something bad happened govt will be blamed.”

butalidnl:  “during big events in Europe, govt could turn off cellphone service instantaneously. but service usual otherwise”

SagadaSun: “It's mind boggling. and probably useless against threat. Recent bombings used wrist watches.”

Jason Valenzuela, in Facebook: "Confirmed, sa Quiapo dadaan yung kalaban ni Jason Bourne. :P”

Kenneth Guda:  “Kanina pa tapos ang Nazareno ah. Wala namang teroristang nahuli. Bakit wala pa ring signal ang Smart?!?”

Government paranoia?

For his part, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares questioned the wisdom and veracity of Malacanang’s announcement of the supposed terrorist plot whilst allowing the festival to continue despite it. “It seems that the threat is serious enough that the President had to make an announcement but it was not serious and credible enough to cancel the procession," he said in an interview.

Interestingly, no efforts were made to cut short the event. The procession was the longest in history, lasting 22 hours up until the wee hours in the morning the next day. Colmenares also pointed out that while the government was compelled to bare completely the intelligence report, it was nonetheless vague, if not elusive.

Amid doubts and suspicions, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Jesse Robredo insisted that the threat was real and sufficiently verified. He said that the Department of National Defense (DND) conducted series of raids on suspected safe houses but “failed to capture the suspects”.

As of this posting, however, the government is yet to confirm the identities of the alleged terrorists. “It’s either the Abu Sayyaf or SOG-MILF (Special operations Group-Moro Islamic Liberation Front). We cannot ascertain,” he said.

Overkill

Critics were also quick to raise suspension over the tactics the government employed, as well as the dangerous precedent that such moves would provide. Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) secretary-general Renato Reyes, Jr. retorted, “Does the banning of cellphone service during the Quiapo feast set a precedent for government response to huge public gatherings faced with threats?”

The Aquino administration’s move to suspend mobile services is dangerously comparable to the methods used by Egypt’s Mubarak and Syria’s Al-Assad who suspended all Internet and cellular phone services in light of anti-government protests. Such moves were condemned by the international community on account of violations on human rights and civil liberties.

And if the most recent excessive heavy-handed tactics resulting in the violent dispersalof peaceful protesters in the December youth-led “Mendiola camp-out” is any indication, there now appears a need for the government to review and re-evaluate its decisions and courses of action against perceived threats. Manila police and Malacanang attempted to justify the series of violent dispersals of peaceful protesters by reporting that they got hold of “intelligence information” signifying that the week-long mobilization was “inciting to sedition”  with the aim to “plan an attack” against Malacanang.

When asked how authorities acquired such information, the police merely cited direct quotes from blogs, websites and Facebook status messages and statements that were easily accessible to the public as promotional materials for the camp-out.

Who cried wolf?

Notwithstanding the usual incidents of injuries, theft and trash that came in the wake of the Feast of the Black Nazarene, the annual event was generally peaceful. Devotees, informed or otherwise of the alleged threat, had either “defied” government warnings or simply did not take it seriously. Either way, the episode had left a general sense of unease in that it is yet to be resolved if, at the expense of civil liberties, the government had erroneously “cried wolf” or successfully executed a “muscle-flexing” of sorts for future wag-the-dog scenarios.

Photo by incrediblethots from Flickr.com. Some rights reserved.