‘Comply with SIM registration law’

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos still holding unregistered subscriber identity module (SIM) cards in their mobile devices must comply with the law requiring their registration, Sen. Grace Poe said yesterday.

Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on public services and is a sponsor of Republic Act 11934 or the SIM Registration Act, urged the public to give the law “one final push as the (April 26) deadline to register approaches.”

“Let’s spread the word that all must enlist their SIM cards for their protection and peace of mind. The government and telcos (telecommunications companies) should go all out to encourage our countrymen to register,” the senator said.

She added that the surge of registration should be matched with a fortified infrastructure from the telcos and concerned government agencies to handle the gush of transactions from those who will sign up their SIM cards.

“We reiterate that systems are in place to secure our information and protect our data,” Poe said.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology has indicated that there would be no extension of the SIM registration deadline.

An official of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), however, earlier said the agency is looking at the rate of registration as well as the process.

Data from the NTC showed that as of last Wednesday, 75,564,837 SIM cards have been registered, or only about 45 percent of the total number of mobile chips in use.

The law was enacted as a means to fight crimes, including financial scams, and terrorism that employ unregistered SIM cards.