SIM card registration has safeguards – Poe

MANILA, Philippines — The SIM Card Registration Act has enough safeguards to protect rights and is a vital tool in combating scams, Sen. Grace Poe said yesterday.

Poe, author and sponsor of Republic Act (RA) 11934, said she respects the processes of the Supreme Court in deliberating on the petition filed by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and other cause-oriented groups seeking to declare the law unconstitutional.

“We worked hard and fought for its passage with the aim to fend off scams and spam preying on our people, sometimes causing them financial losses and endangering their safety,” the senator said.

“The law has instituted adequate safeguards that will vouch for consumers’ right to privacy while ensuring a safe and secure mobile use,” she said.

In a petition filed with the assistance of Leflegis Legal Services and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers on Monday, the petitioners asked the high court to declare RA 11934 unconstitutional for infringing on four sections of the Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitution.

The petitioners said the mandatory SIM registration “restricts the constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of speech and violates the right against unreasonable searches and seizures and the right to substantive due process.”

The petitioners also asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction to restrain the government from implementing the law while their plea is pending.

Named as respondents are the National Telecommunications Commission, National Privacy Commission, and the Departments of Information and Communications Technology; Trade and Industry; Interior and Local Government and Education.

Telecommunications firms were also tagged as private respondents.

They also asked the respondents to “cease and desist from using, storing, transferring, and processing all information gathered into the SIM Register and destroy data already gathered.”

Internet speed improves

Internet speed in the Philippines has improved in both the mobile and fixed broadband segments, with Smart Communications Inc. winning as the best provider among wireless operators.

Based on Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index, mobile internet speed in the country got faster by four percent to 25.63 Mbps in March, from 24.62 Mbps in February.

As such, the Philippines ranked 79th among 140 economies in terms of mobile internet speed, as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) bested the pack with 178.25 Mbps followed by Qatar’s 174.56 Mbps and Norway’s 143.55 Mbps.

Likewise, fixed broadband speed in the Philippines rose by one percent to 90.57 Mbps in March, from 90.03 Mbps in February. For this segment, the country placed 41st among 180 nations with Singapore’s 235.4 Mbps, UAE’s 221.87 Mbps and Chile’s 220.39 Mbps leading the way. – Elijah Felice Rosales