DICT mulls cutting services for users who don’t register SIMs within extension period

MANILA, Philippines — Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan Uy said Tuesday that his department is considering restricting some services for users who do not register their SIMs within a certain period during the 90-day extension granted by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Republic Act No. 11934 or the SIM Registration Act is clear that unregistered SIMs will only be deactivated after the initial 180-day registration period and the extension period of up to 120 days. The law does not say that the government or telecommunications companies can suspend mobile services of unregistered users during the extension period.

Despite this, Uy said they are mulling to deactivate some services — including social media access — for users who fail to register after some time during the extension period which lasts until July 25.

“After a certain period of time, maybe 30 days or 60 days into registration, we will start deactivating some services on the SIM card,” Uy told a news conference in Malacañang.

He added, “Let’s say after 60 days, you will lose access to your Facebook accounts or to your TikTok accounts. But you can still use your phone, you can still call, you can still text. And then after a certain period, you will lose your outgoing calls.”

Uy said this is to make people who have not registered their SIMs feel its effects. But these effects should only become effective after the registration deadline.

“It will definitely make the public feel that we’re serious with the deactivation without completely cutting them off the services. But after the 90 days, that’s when they will feel the full cut off of all the services,” he said.

Ahead of Uy's announcement, Malacañang's broadcasting arm RTVM said "failure to register within the given period of extension will result to limited SIM services from the telecommunication companies."

Earlier Tuesday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla also said that "most of the services" of SIM users who do not register within the extension period "will be cut off."

"So there will be social media unavailability for those who do not register in the next 90 days," said Remulla, who was first to announce the extension of the SIM registration deadline.