If the circuit works, it is only because of the imperfections in the components. As others have pointed out, the capacitors are shorting the aerial. However, electrolytic capacitors are will have a large impedance at cell phone frequencies, so they will be more like inductors for those frequencies.
There are lots of circuits that rely on secondary characteristics of components. The Joule thief circuit is one, as it only works due to inductor saturation.