JAM THE SIGNAL

October 29, 2022 Opinion

The killing of radioman and vlogger Percival ‘Percy Lapid’ Mabasa is becoming a muddled and confusing affair with the ‘death’ of one of the alleged middlemen while inside the national penitentiary and the refusal of the other surviving middleman to cooperate with the authorities in the investigation to determine the
mastermind behind the killing and the motive that goes with it.

From the extra-judicial confession of alleged gunman Joel Escorial it appears that the plot and the order given for the murder of Percy Lapid was facilitated and communicated inside the jail. Escorial stated in
his confession that on September 2022 he was contacted by New Bilibid Prison detainee Crisanto Palana
Villamor Jr aka “Jun Villamor Y Globa Y Garcia” thru a cellphone and informed him about the plan to kill Mabasa.

Escorial in his confession would also divulge his link with the dead middleman Villamor stating that he (Escorial) had done previous “hit jobs” along with Villamor prior to the incarceration of the latter. It is now obvious that the sordid affair was facilitated and conducted thru the use of a cellphone inside the New
Bilibid Prison. This is an aspect of the murder case that has to be looked into and scrutinize closely by the authorities, in particular the Department of Justice (DOJ) which has supervision over the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), an agency of the government charge with rehabilitating jailed criminals in the country.

Indeed it is puzzling why until now, despite previous controversies involving high profile inmates of Bilibid, the government continues to fail instituting measures that would hamper the illegal communication activities inside the national penitentiary as well as other prisons in the country. With the modern technology now available to deter the conduct of illegal communication activities inside the prison, particularly with the use of cellphones, it would be a simple matter to request Congress to approve a law that would authorize and allow authorities to install jamming devices within a prison operating 24 /7 to block cellphone signals from being transmitted outside the penal facility.

When will we learn that jailed criminals for the most part, those majority of felons convicted with finality and
serving their sentences, who have nothing else to do inside their prison cell and while counting the years of their stay are continuously devising and plotting ways and means to further advance their criminal activities even while inside the jail. This is true with the illegal drug trade involving chinese high profile inmates who are either leaders or members of notorious drug syndicates and who continue to give out or carry orders even as they are behind bars.

And the way they do it is generally with the use of cellphones. Now even if the government will prohibit and ban the use of cellphones inside the penal facilities you can be sure that these convicted criminals will always find a way to circumvent it. Because that is how a criminal mind will operate. So with this Lapid case as an eye opener the government must start using technology backed by a legal basis to permanently curtail the illegal communication activities of convicted felons within jails and prisons all over the country.

What kind of technology? Simply jam the signal. In 2019 and in the US, the Tennessee Department of
Corrections called for action against contraband cellphones and cited the effectiveness of micro-jamming technology to “block illegal cellphone signals in correctional facilities” Now how do you block cellphone signals? Here are two jamming methods described in the internet: “ Xxx, There is also another method which is used for the same purpose.

In this method, there are detectors placed in the buildings. When a person uses a cell phone, the detector sends alarms to alert the about the use of a cell phone. It also informs the location of the user of the cell phone. This technology of cell phone jamming is used in prisons and the military where high security is need. Therefore, it is of crucial importance.” (https://phantomtechnologies. com/cell-phone jamming- methods/)

The government can use this method to deter prison inmate involvement in criminal activities outside the jail making it doubly difficult to perpetrate them. The authorities must act now and start jamming the  signal.