Mayor’s Special Overreaction Team? Manila to ban trade in used phones after report, mayor says

How’s this for responsive government: After a student reported spotting their stolen phone for sale to the so-called Mayor’s Special Reaction Team, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno yesterday decreed that all sales of secondhand mobile phones would be banned throughout the city.

The Manila Public Information Office announced the proposed ban on Twitter yesterday, with a statement from the mayor’s office presenting the matter as a done deal. However, passage of the ordinance still technically rests in the hands of the City Council, which Moreno maintained is now drafting the law, and which has proven largely amenable to his proposals in the past.

The threat was made after a student reported to the MPD Special Mayor’s Reaction Team (SMaRT) that he saw his mobile phone from one of the vendors inside Isetann Mall in Recto.#AlertoManileno https://t.co/wRKtwNqFui

— Manila Public Information Office (@ManilaPIO) October 7, 2019

The Manila Public Information Office and the Special Mayor’s Reaction Team have yet to return Coconuts Manila’s many phone calls today, but in Moreno’s statement, he noted that the ban came after a student reported to the Manila Police District that their stolen phone was allegedly being resold at Isetann Mall.

Isetann Mall has a reputation for reselling cheap, preowned mobile phones, and prior to the recent complaint, Moreno had already threatened to close it down in September, accusing the mall of coddling vendors who sold pilfered goods.

He renewed that threat yesterday, while also vowing to pass the citywide ordinance prohibiting the buying and selling of used mobile phones.

“These [thieves] always escape us. So here’s what we’ll do, we’ll turn off the faucet, so now they have a pipe but no water running through,” Moreno said of the ban in a mix of English and Filipino.

Read: Eat pork! Please eat all the totally safe pork, agri chief and Manila mayor urge

A spokeswoman for the Cinerama complex, which manages Isetann’s shops, insisted to news show 24 Oras yesterday that the purportedly stolen phone reported by the student had not been resold in their tenant’s shop.

The spokeswoman, who identified herself only as “Mercy J,” said the phone had been brought to a technician for repair, but the owner never came back to claim it, and the technician was unaware that the phone was stolen. The spokeswoman added that the mall was doing its best to comply with the mayor’s orders.

Vendors at Isetann also told 24 Oras that after the mayor first threatened to shutter the mall, they began requiring identification from phone sellers when buying preowned phones for resale.

Once the ordinance is passed, malls, independently-operated stores, and even makeshift roadside stalls could be closed if they are found guilty of selling preowned mobile phones.

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