SIM CARDS REGISTRATION LAW. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. signs Republic Act No. 11934 also known as An Act Requiring the Registration of SIM Cards in a ceremony at Malacanan Palace on Monday (Oct. 10, 2022). The new law aims to regulate the release of SIM Cards to curb the proliferation of text message scams in the country. (Photo courtesy of Bongbong Marcos FB page)
MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday signed a bill that aims to regulate the release of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards to curb the proliferation of text message scams in the country.
Marcos signed Republic Act No. (RA) 11934 also known as An Act Requiring the Registration of SIM Cards in a ceremony witnessed by Vice President Sara Duterte, lawmakers, and other government officials at Malacañan Palace.
RA 11934 was signed two days after Marcos marked his first 100 days in office on Oct. 8.
In a speech, Marcos thanked lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives for coming up with a “long overdue” measure seeking to resolve crimes using SIM cards.
“Truly, the legislation is going to be welcomed by many of our people especially now with reports of the commission of various crimes using mobile phones, including the proliferation of text scams and spam. Indeed with the signing of this law, we set the important tone that it is our national policy to ensure that technology shall only be used to improve our people’s lives,” Marcos said.
Marcos expressed hope that his administration would enact even more measures that would help ensure security, progress, and prosperity for the nation and people.
RA 11934, which is a consolidation of House Bill No. 14 and Senate Bill No. 1310, requires Public Telecommunication Entities (PTEs) or direct sellers to demand end users of SIM cards to present a valid identification document to validate their identities.
It also requires PTEs to submit a verified list of their authorized dealers and agents nationwide to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and an update list of the same every quarter of each year.
The law mandates that all PTEs are required to maintain a SIM Card Registry of their subscribers containing information required under the new law.
It also provides provisions on Confidentiality and Non-disclosure of Information which prohibit disclosure of any information of a subscriber, unless upon subpoena or lawful order from a competent court or written request from law enforcement agency in relation to an ongoing investigation, that a particular number requested is used in the commission of a crime.
RA 11934 mandates that the confidentiality clause in the SIM card registration will take effect at the point of sale and the registration of existing pre-paid SIM card phone subscribers.
Existing postpaid and prepaid mobile subscribers must register their SIM cards within 180 days from the effectivity of the law to avoid deactivation.
Also under the law, PTEs will be required to provide information obtained in the registration process only upon the issuance of a subpoena by a competent authority pursuant to an investigation based on a sworn complaint that a specific mobile number was or is being used in the commission of a crime or that it was used as a means to commit a malicious, fraudulent or unlawful act, and that the complainant is unable to ascertain the identity of the perpetrator.
RA 11934 also provides appropriate penalties failure to register a SIM, for breach of confidentiality, for breach of confidentiality due to negligence, for providing false or fictitious information or for using fictitious identities or fraudulent identification of documents to register a SIM, for spoofing a registered SIM, for sale of stolen SIM and for sale or transfer of a registered SIM without complying with required registration.
SIM card registration timeframe
In an interview, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy said the time frame for registering SIM cards will still be decided after consultation between the NTC and PTEs.
“I think the prescribed time has still to be set by NTC and with the consultation with the telcos kasi (because) they have to prepare the systems, they have to prepare their people in order to do this. But I think madali na, maraming process (it’s easy, there are a lot of processes),” he said.
Uy said PTEs may consider asking their subscribers to validate their SIM cards online the same way it is done with electronic wallets to avoid long lines in their physical stores.
“Nandun na rin yung data (The data is already there)…especially the post-paid ones nandun na (it’s already there) so they just have to revalidate whether the one who’s using the phone is the same one that applied…The challenge would be the prepaid. They would still receive a notice that ‘Okay, Mr. Anonymous in view of the SIM Card Registration Bill please log in to this site and you will receive a verification text on your phone that you are indeed the owner of that phone’,” he said.
“Those who failed to do that probably would be given a few chances to do it over a period of time otherwise they would be cut off,” he added.
To ensure that those registering SIM cards are legitimate individuals, he said identification (ID) cards submitted, such as driver’s license and passports, may easily be validated by concerned agencies like the Land Transportation Office and Department of Foreign Affairs.
Presidential son and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos welcomed the signing of the new law, expressing hope that it would prevent fraudsters from taking advantage of Filipinos.
The younger Marcos, who is also House Senior Deputy Majority Leader, is among the co-authors of HB 14 which was sponsored by House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
“I think the most obvious thing that people will feel is hopefully mawawala na yung mga scam text na nakukuha natin (we would stop getting these text scams). Like I said before, medyo nakakatakot kasi pati ngayon dinagdag din yung mga pangalan ng mga tao (it’s quite scary because they even know people’s names),” he told reporters.
He also described the new law as “a welcome addition to the security of our kababayans’ personal information.”
Protecting subscribers
In a statement, House Speaker Martin G. Romualdez thanked the President for the immediate signing of the measure into law.
He said this signifies the Marcos administration's recognition of the need to put in place measures that will protect Filipino consumers against cybercriminals and online scammers.
Romualdez said the law is a "great" first step toward the protection of the privacy of Filipinos who are currently vulnerable to intrusion from unscrupulous individuals who are using personal data to either misrepresent, scam, or defraud consumers.
"This measure has been exhaustively discussed during the 18th Congress where I served as Majority Leader but was unfortunately vetoed by the previous administration because of the inclusion of a provision calling for the mandatory registration of social media accounts. This provision has been taken out of the current version of the law. Again, we express our sincere appreciation of President Marcos' recognition of the merits as well as the importance of this measure when he affixed his signature and made law the SIM Registration Act," he added.
Benefits outweigh issues
The Philippine National Police (PNP), meanwhile, expressed hope that the SIM Card Registration Law’s benefits will outweigh privacy issues and other concerns raised by subscribers.
In a statement, PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. allayed fears of mobile phone users over the issue, saying the confidentiality of communications is duly protected under the country’s laws.
He added that the measure will strengthen law enforcers’ capability to go after criminals through the accurate identification of all mobile phone users.
“In our experience, during the onset of the pandemic in 2019 when people were prevented from going outside their homes, criminals shifted activities from traditional crimes to online crimes using telecommunication and cyberspace platforms. They have devised different modus operandi to scam people of their hard-earned money. They hid behind the comfort of anonymity by using prepaid SIM cards to defraud unsuspecting victims,” he said.
Citing data from the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group, Azurin said the police recorded a total of 4,254 SIM card related offenses from January to September this year.
This excludes cases handled by other units of the PNP, other government institutions, reported incidents handled by different financial institutions and cases unreported by victims. (with reports from Zaldy de Layola and Lloyd Caliwan/PNA)
