SIM registration extended 90 days

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos approved yesterday a 90-day extension of SIM card registration – a day before the deadline – to allow an estimated 20 million more subscribers register their SIM cards as provided for in a recently enacted law designed to eliminate fraud and scams.

The deadline for the mandatory registration of new and existing SIM cards under Republic Act 11934 or the SIM Registration Act was originally set for today.

Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy said the President made the decision during a sectoral meeting at Malacañang yesterday.

“We urge our kababayans to take advantage of this extension to register their SIM cards,” Uy said at a press briefing at Malacañang.

So far, about 82 million SIM cards have been registered, according to Uy. Of the 82 million registered SIMs, more than 37 million are Globe subscribers, some 39 million are Smart subscribers and over five million are Dito subscribers.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) estimates that some 15 million to 20 million SIM cards have yet to be registered.

“The public is advised to follow DICT’s social media channels and website for official announcements on the implementation of the SIM Registration Act. The department urges Filipinos to take advantage of the extended SIM registration period to promote accountability and responsibility in using SIMs and sound the death knell for cybercrimes and text scams committed by unscrupulous perpetrators,” a DICT statement read.

Currently, there are 168,016,400 active SIMs in the Philippines, of which 50 million are considered “disposable” or being used only for telemarketing or scamming purposes, Uy said.

Signed by Marcos on Oct.10 last year, the SIM Registration Act aims to curb scams through short messaging services (SMS) or text in the country.

SIM registration started on Dec. 27 last year.

Uy noted that during the initial months of registration that only about 100,000 SIM cards were registered per day. But in the last two weeks, registration averaged more than a million SIM cards per day.

To encourage subscribers to register their SIMs, Uy said the government is talking with telecommunication companies (telcos) on the possibility of cutting the subscribers’ access to social media sites such as Facebook and TikTok should they fail to register within the first 60 days.

The government will observe the rate of registration during the 90-day extension, he said.

“Because of our observation that people are not taking our deadlines seriously, we are now exploring other options to incentivize registration,” he said.

“After a certain period of time, we’re seeing maybe 30 days or 60 days into registration, we will start deactivating some services on the SIM card…Let’s say, after the 60 days, you will lose your access to your Facebook accounts or to your TikTok accounts…so they can feel the effects of not registering,” he said.

Even if their social media accounts are cut off, unregistered subscribers can still make calls or send text messages during the 90-day extension, he said.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla confirmed the plan to limit the services for subscribers who would fail to register within the 90-day extension.

“There’s a 90-day extension, but most of the services that come with the cellphones that are not registered will be cut off with the telcos. So there will be a social media unavailability for those who do not register in the next 90 days,” Remulla said.

“That’s one good news for us to start this meeting, extension of the SIM registration... For those phones or SIM that are not registered, there will be a limitation as to the access,” Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said.

IDs

According to telcos, requiring government-issued IDs for registration has been a problem.

Uy clarified that IDs issued by barangays can be used to register SIM cards as they are also considered government IDs, adding the public can also use the facility of their respective barangays to register.

“The barangay captain or the barangay officials can register for you on your behalf using your mobile phone and accessing their data or accessing their WiFi or internet service there. So, that’s how liberal the ID system is. It doesn’t have to be a driver’s license or a passport – a barangay ID would suffice,” he said.

“So that just goes to show that the issue is not really limited ID or anything, it’s just our bad habit of delaying to the last minute compliance with the law,” the DICT chief said.

Uy said in the next 90 days, the DICT would deploy more people and resources to some of the islands with low turnout of registrants.

The DICT chief reminded the public this would be the last extension of registration of SIMs.

“So this is the last chance. The law actually has our hands tied. We are only allowed to do this, the extension once and up to a certain period of time,” Uy said.

“They cannot call out, they cannot receive calls, they cannot text and they will lose access also to their e-wallets and whatever financial services that are linked to their SIM card. So I urge the public really to register quickly,” he said, referring to what subscribers should expect if they fail to register their SIMs.

Welcome

Mobile giants Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. welcomed the extension of the deadline for SIM registration.

“We welcome the 90-day extension which gives our subscribers more time to register plus more time for us and the government for SIM registration,” Smart first vice president and corporate communications group head Cathy Yang said.

However, Yang admitted Smart would find it difficult to gradually deactivate SIMs over the 90-day period. The government wants telco providers to deactivate their mobile services one by one for people who choose to ignore the mandate.

“As to the gradual deactivation, which they are still evaluating, discussions with the Department of Information and Communications Technology and National Telecommunications Commission are still ongoing. It would really be difficult for us to implement due to time constraints,” Yang said.

On the other hand, Globe announced that it has opened a SIM registration feature through e-wallet giant GCash. Through this, the Ayala-led telco hopes that it can expand the number of avenues wherein subscribers can enlist their mobile numbers.

Globe reminded users that failure to register would result in the deactivation of their SIM, which in turn may affect their access to basic services like banking and education.

Abusers warned

Meanwhile, administration lawmakers yesterday warned store owners of mobile phones against exploiting cellular phone owners who would be rushing to beat the 90-day extended SIM Card registration deadline by charging additional fees.

“I call on the public to be vigilant and report any form of abuse and exploitation to the proper authorities,” Rep. Zaldy Co of party-list Ako Bicol, chairman of the appropriations committee of the House of Representatives, said.

“It is unacceptable for these SIM card sellers to take advantage of the situation by charging additional fees for SIM card registration. This is a clear case of extortion and exploitation of consumers,” Co, who is also president of the Party-list Coalition Foundation Inc., added.

Co also called on the public to take advantage of the free SIM card registration services being offered by the DICT in their area.

“Consumers should not be forced to pay extra fees for SIM card registration. They should not be taken advantage of by unscrupulous SIM card sellers who are trying to profit from the situation,” he warned.

Rep. LRay Villafuerte of Camarines Sur said the extension of the registration period would let the government integrate into the digital space legitimate SIM users.

“The failure of these legitimate SIM holders to sign up will thus deal a severe blow to the Marcos administration’s commitment to accelerate our country’s digital switch,” he said. — Felice Rosales, Delon Porcalla, Rainier Allan Ronda, Marc Jayson Cayabyab