Cell phone jammer crackdown: 4 arrested

MANILA, Philippines - A day after the government launched a crackdown on signal jammers, four suspects were arrested and charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday for illegal sale of the devices that can be used to disrupt the midterm elections on May 13.

Charged for violating the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines and the E-Commerce Law were businessman Giovanni Dee-Tan and his employees Betsayda Buena, Matthew Mercado and Rommel Ogo.

All four were brought to the DOJ in the afternoon for inquest proceedings.

They were arrested on Thursday afternoon in a sting operation by the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) at the store of Tan’s Zollner International Merchandising along 4th Avenue in Caloocan City.

In their two-page complaint, the ACG alleged that the four suspects were engaged in the illegal sale of signal-jamming devices.

Seized from them were a total of 14 signal jamming devices that were found to be illegally imported.

“Accordingly, the above-mentioned firms still continued the illegal trade of said electronic gadgets allegedly to be used or intended to be used in the forthcoming national elections,” read the complaint signed by Chief Inspector Jay Danao Guillermo, head of ACG’s intelligence section.

The police, however, could not specify how the suspects were linked to any political party and what exact evidence they have to prove the devices were meant to be used in the polls.

Police conducted the operation after receiving reports that Zollner had been engaged in selling electronic products, including signal jammers, without securing a permit from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

During the buy-bust, a police officer who posed as buyer was able to purchase four units of the contraband from the store for P34,000.

During a hearing facilitated by DOJ prosecution lawyer Stephanie Maderazo, the respondents waived their right to a full-blown preliminary investigation. Their lawyer Michael Cris Berania said his clients opted not to file a counter-affidavit and will instead face trial.

On Thursday, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas warned traders against the sale of signal jamming devices.

While the jamming devices are not capable of changing the results of the elections, Roxas said the delay of transmission may raise questions on the credibility on election results, especially in hotly contested areas.

The worst-case scenario, according to Roxas, is that signal jamming may spark violence as some groups might try to get possession of the compact flash (CF) cards while they are being transported to other places for Internet cable transmission of election results.

Roxas explained that the principal anti-fraud mechanism of the election modernization law is the speed of transmission and that is the reason why the government has been exerting all effort to gather the election results, especially in far-flung areas, at the soonest possible time.

Unlike manual polls where it takes weeks before winning national candidates are proclaimed, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) hopes to have the winners in just two days.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. admitted that they do not have enough manpower to launch all-out operations against users of jamming devices.

He said mere possession of a jamming device is punishable with imprisonment for eight to 12 years for violation of election laws, apart from other penalties.   

No smuggling reports

 Meanwhile, Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Rufino Biazon yesterday said there had been no reports of cellular phone signal jammers being smuggled into the country.

Biazon said if there have been signal jammers that have entered the country, these might have passed through Philippine ports.

“These kinds of equipment require NTC permits. So if there are importations that pass through the Customs ports, we’ll be able to monitor it. It is basically the same as other electronic communications equipment which are regulated,” he said.

Biazon also said signal jammer couriers may have been used to sneak the items into the country.

“These may either pass through areas without Customs presence or through individual couriers,” he added. – Edu Punay, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Evelyn Macairan