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Is Cutting Spaghetti Wires “Anti-Poor”? The Truth About Illegal Internet, Safety, and Access in 2026

June 24, 2026 • BY MARK MORALES

Is Cutting Spaghetti Wires “Anti-Poor”? The Truth About Illegal Internet, Safety, and Access in 2026

Community Report | June 24, 2026 | Philippines
“Bakit nyo pinuputol? Mura nga sa mahirap.” That’s the question every barangay captain hears when NTC and PNP raid a colorum ISP. The answer isn’t simple. Removing illegal internet can hurt poor families — but leaving it can hurt them more. The data from 2024-2026 shows there’s a third path: “Replace, then regulate.” This is how the government, telcos, and communities are trying to make internet both legal and affordable.

I. The Real Question: Who Gets Hurt?

An estimated 2.5 million Filipino households use unlicensed internet providers as of 2025.1 That’s 15% of all fixed broadband users. Most pay ₱150-₱300/month. For a family earning ₱400/day, legal fiber at ₱1,299/mo feels impossible.

So when people ask “Is the crackdown anti-poor?”, they’re really asking: “If you cut my ₱200 internet today, what happens to my kid’s online class tomorrow?”

Two truths exist at the same time:
1. Raids without replacement are anti-poor. Cutting 100 houses tonight with no alternative = digital blackout for the poor.
2. Spaghetti wires are anti-poor. Pole fires, bagyo outages, and fiber sabotage hit informal settlers and fisherfolk first.2

II. When “Anti-Poor” Is True: The Bad Crackdowns

Case Study: Barangay in Antique, 2023
NTC removed 3 colorum antennas serving 120 houses. Legal fiber arrived 8 months later. For 8 months, high school students walked 3km to the plaza for signal. Two students dropped out. That crackdown was anti-poor because it removed access without replacing it.

What makes a crackdown anti-poor:

  1. No transition time: Disconnect today, legal install “next year”
  2. No cheaper legal option: Only ₱1,699 postpaid offered, no prepaid
  3. Criminalizes users, not operators: Arresting nanay for paying ₱200/mo instead of the gang that cut PLDT fiber
  4. Ignores why it exists: Slow permits + expensive legal = demand for colorum

III. When “Do Nothing” Is Also Anti-Poor

Leaving spaghetti wires alone feels “pro-poor” short term. But the data shows long-term harm:

Risk Who Suffers Most 2023-2025 Data
Pole Fires Informal settlers near overloaded poles BFP Region VI: 30% of Iloilo City pole fires traced to illegal lines. Jaro 2023: 2 dead3
Bagyo Outages Fisherfolk, farmers, students DICT: 80% of Typhoon Aghon internet downtime from tangled aerial wires, not main fiber4
No Consumer Rights Low-income users When colorum dies, no refund. ₱200 lost is 1 day’s wage
Digital Dead-End Whole barangay Telcos won’t invest if 60% are on colorum. Barangay stays at 2Mbps forever

So “letting it slide” keeps poor communities unsafe and stuck. That’s anti-poor too.

IV. The 2026 Solution: “Pro-Poor, Anti-Spaghetti”

DICT, NTC, DILG, and LGUs changed strategy after 2023. The new rule: Replace before you remove.

1. Make Legal Faster Than Illegal

Policy: EO 32 s.2023 + DICT-DILG Joint Memo 2025 — LGU must approve telco permits in 7 days or deemed approved.5
Result: Iloilo Province “Digital Express Lane” — 72-hour permit for unserved barangays. Balasan 2025: PLDT installed whole barangay in 45 days, then NTC cut colorum. Zero days offline.

2. Make Legal Cheaper Than Illegal

Option Price 2026 Who Pays Speed
DICT Free WiFi ₱0 Taxpayers 25-100 Mbps. 15,000 sites nationwide6
Prepaid Fiber ₱699-₱999/mo User, no lock-in 50-200 Mbps. Globe/PLDT
Barangay Digital Coop ₱250-₱400/mo Community-owned 20-50 Mbps. Zamboanga pilot 20257
Starlink Community ₱100/mo shared 1 unit ₱2,700/mo split by 27 houses 50-200 Mbps. 200k PH subs 20268

Key point: When legal = ₱250-₱700 and installs in 30 days, ₱200 colorum dies on its own. No raid needed.

3. Legalize the Vendor, Not Just the User

Policy: DILG 2025 memo — Piso WiFi vendors near schools can apply as “DICT Accredited Reseller.”9 They get legal bandwidth quota, BIR receipt, and keep income.
Why: The vendor is often poor too. Jail = 1 family loses livelihood. Legalize = 1 micro-entrepreneur pays tax.
Result: QC + Iloilo City 2025: 300+ vendors legalized, 0 sites shut down.

4. Target Sabotage, Not Subscribers

PNP priority 2026: Arrest “fiber cutting gangs,” not nanay paying ₱200/mo.10 180 arrests 2025 were operators and cutters, not end users.

Case Study: Pro-Poor Cleanup — Iloilo City “Oplan Kusi” 2025
1. Map: DICT drone counted 5 tons illegal wires in Jaro.
2. Replace: DICT Free WiFi activated at plaza + 3 schools. PLDT offered ₱699 prepaid.
3. Amnesty: 30 days for vendors to apply as legal reseller or remove.
4. Remove: After 30 days, PNP + Ileco cut remaining. QR tagging enforced.
Result: Zero student days lost. 15 tons wires removed. Legal subs up 40%.11

V. The Ethics Test: 3 Questions for Any Policy

Before calling a program “anti-poor” or “pro-poor,” ask:

  1. Did poor families lose internet with no alternative? If yes → anti-poor.
  2. Did poor families gain safety + cheaper legal option? If yes → pro-poor.
  3. Who profits from status quo? If only the illegal operator, not users → cleanup is pro-poor.
DICT Sec. Ivan Uy, 2025: “The poor are not the enemy. The absence of service is. Our job is to make legal faster than illegal.”12

VI. What You Can Do This Week

For Households

  1. Check before you switch: Ask ISP for NTC CPCN number. Verify at ntc.gov.ph.
  2. Try legal first: DICT Free WiFi map at freepublicwifi.gov.ph. Test speed before paying colorum.
  3. Report danger, not neighbors: Photo of sagging/burning wires → Ileco I, NTC 1682, 911. RA 7925 requires action in 15 days.

For Barangays

  1. Adopt “Replace, Then Remove” Resolution: No NTC raid until DICT Free WiFi or legal ISP is live.
  2. Apply for Digital Coop: DILG + DICT grants available 2026. Use IRA. Keep income local.
  3. One Pole Ordinance: Copy Iloilo City EO 015-2025. 90-day amnesty: “Tag or remove.”

For Students/Teachers

Illegal internet dies first in bagyo. Save NTC numbers of legal ISPs + Starlink resellers like you save emergency hotlines. One outage can cost a school year.

The Bottom Line
It’s not “illegal vs poor.” It’s “illegal + dangerous + temporary” vs “legal + safe + permanent.”

Anti-poor = Cut now, replace never.
Pro-poor = Install Free WiFi/prepaid fiber in 30 days, then cut spaghetti.

When legal is ₱0-₱700 and arrives next month, the ₱200 colorum business model collapses on its own. That’s how you protect both the signal and the people.

Endnotes

  1. National Telecommunications Commission. Unlicensed ISPs Monitoring Report. Q1 2025. ↩
  2. Bureau of Fire Protection Region VI. Iloilo City Fire Incident Analysis. 2023-2025. ↩
  3. Ibid. Jaro fire 2023 case study. ↩
  4. DICT Disaster Response Team. Typhoon Aghon ICT Damage Assessment. May 2024. ↩
  5. Executive Order No. 32, s. 2023. Streamlining of Permitting for Telecommunications. DICT-DILG Joint Memo 2025-01. ↩
  6. DICT. Free WiFi for All Program Dashboard. June 2026. ↩
  7. Zamboanga City LGU. Barangay Digital Cooperative Pilot Report. Dec 2025. ↩
  8. Starlink Philippines, via DICT. Subscriber data as of June 2026. ↩
  9. DILG Memorandum Circular 2025-048. “Guidelines for Accreditation of Community Internet Resellers.” ↩
  10. PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group. Fiber Infrastructure Sabotage Report. 2025. ↩
  11. Iloilo City LGU. Oplan Kusi Accomplishment Report. Dec 2025. ↩
  12. Department of Information and Communications Technology. Press Briefing. Aug 15, 2025. ↩

Sources

Laws and Policies:

  1. Republic Act No. 7925, Public Telecommunications Policy Act of 1995.
  2. Republic Act No. 9514, Fire Code of the Philippines.
  3. Republic Act No. 10175, Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
  4. Executive Order No. 32, s. 2023.
  5. NTC Memorandum Circular No. 01-01-2024, One Pole Policy.
  6. DICT Department Circular No. 008, s. 2020, Common Tower Policy.
  7. DILG Memorandum Circular 2025-048.

Government Reports:

  1. National Telecommunications Commission. Unlicensed ISPs Monitoring Report. Q1 2025.
  2. Department of Information and Communications Technology. Philippine Digital Infrastructure Report. Dec 2025.
  3. DICT. Free WiFi for All Program Dashboard. June 2026.
  4. Bureau of Fire Protection Region VI. Iloilo City Fire Incident Analysis. 2023-2025.
  5. PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group. Fiber Infrastructure Sabotage Report. 2025.

LGU Data:

  1. Iloilo City LGU. Oplan Kusi Accomplishment Report. Dec 2025.
  2. Municipality of Balasan, Iloilo. Digitalization Report to DILG. Q4 2025.
  3. Zamboanga City LGU. Barangay Digital Cooperative Pilot Report. Dec 2025.

#InternetPH #DigitalDivide #ProPoor #DICT #NTC #FreeWiFi #SpaghettiWires #Iloilo #BarangayGovernance #PublicSafety #CommunityDevelopment

Community Report | Philippines | June 2026
This article may be reproduced by barangays, schools, and civic groups for public education with attribution. Data as of June 24, 2026.
Check providers at ntc.gov.ph. Report dangerous wires to Ileco I, Meralco, NTC 1682, or 911. Access DICT Free WiFi at freepublicwifi.gov.ph.

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