More than half of Philippine SIMs already registered before July 25 deadline — DICT

MANILA, Philippines — More than 105 million or more than 60% of the total number of active SIMs in the country are now registered with the government, the Department of Information and Communications Technology said on Tuesday.

As of Sunday, the DICT has recorded around 105 million registered SIM cards, 49 million of which are from Smart, 48 million from Globe and around seven million from DITO.

July 25 or Tuesday marks the last day of the extended deadline for SIM registration. 

The DICT in April extended the deadline for the registration of SIM cards by three months after only 49.3% or 82.8 million of 168 million active subscribers enlisted their SIM cards.

The DICT has said there will be no more extensions of the July 25 deadline given that the government has met the “lower end” of its targets, National Telecommunications Commission Deputy Commissioner John Paulo Salvahan said in an interview with GMA News' Unang Balita.

Unregistered SIM cards are set to lose connection at July 26 midnight and affected users are given a five-day grace period to apply for reactivation, the DICT said last week.

With deactivated SIMs, users will not be able to send and receive calls, texts and lose access to e-wallets and other mobile applications linked to their SIM cards.

Critics of the SIM Card Registration Act or Republic Act 11934 previously cited concerns with its unconstitutionality, saying that 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 Supreme Court junked their request to temporarily stop the registration of SIM cards in April. — Cristina Chi