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Friday, March 29, 2024

AFP Officers’ Village residents to face Dito in a referendum

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DITO Telecommunity, poised to be the country’s third telecommunications firm, is facing a tough challenge convincing acybersecurity-conscious community of retired and active military officers who are strongly opposing the construction of a number of 5G cellular towers inside their village in Taguig City.

In an online petition, the AFP Officers Village Inc. made known its opposition to the planned construction by partners Dito and China Telecom of about 20 cellular towers in their village in Western Bicutan.

The recent passage of the Bayanihan 2 law has given the opposing homeowners’ group the right to challenge Dito in a referendum to be officiated by the barangay council in the area, they said.

At least 135 residents of AFP Officers’ Village Phase 2, where the cell sites are planned to be built, are against it, prompting local authorities to set up the still-undated referendum.

“I am worried about the cybersecurity risk posed by the 5G Dito towers inside our village,” a retired military general said, requesting he not be named.

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The general added that other active and retired government officials residing in the area shared his sentiment.

Stressing the risk on national security, the online petition disclosed that some 40 residents are currently holding key government positions, “aside from the fact that our village is located very close to the headquarters of the Air Force, Army and Navy.”

“We are opposed to the cellular sites because it poses grave danger to our national security,” said owners of households along Duque and Bautista streets in the village, where some of the Dito towers are slated to be built.

AFPOVAI residents said that last March , some representatives from Dito reportedly visited their village of about 4,000 lot owners.

“They came to convince us, but failed,” they added.

“We take the position that such facility will do more harm than good for our community,” their onlinepetition read.

They stressed that cell sites in general pose long-term risks to the residents’ health due to “what well-researched studies call electromagnetic radiation that cell sites emit.”

The residents also said the proposed location of the cell sites is along the lower segment of commercial planes’ flight paths. AFPOVAI has eight phases, with 4,000 lot owners, and around 450 of them are in Phase 2.

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