THE Senate on Monday night passed on second reading the mandatory registration of Subscriber Identity Modules (SIM) cards while a similar proposed measure was passed on third reading at the House of Representatives.
Sen. Grace Poe, committee on public services chairperson, said Senate Bill No. 1310 or the Proposed SIM Registration Act is aimed at stopping mobile phones and electronic communications-aided crimes, such as text scams and terrorism, by mandating cellphone owners to register their SIM cards by presenting a valid government-issued ID and other documents.
Both houses of Congress passed the proposed measure in the 18th Congress but former President Duterte vetoed it due to the provision on mandatory registration of social media accounts.
The proposed measure was re-filed by Poe in the present Congress, with amendments to expand its coverage from ordinary SIM cards to newer types of SIM cards such as the eSIMs.
Under the Senate version of the proposed measure, minors who will use SIM cards shall register them using their parents’ or guardians’ names.
Telecommunication companies will be tasked to protect the enrolled personal information in a secure database, the compliance of which shall be audited by the Department of Information and Communications Technology.
Poe said any breach of confidentiality will be penalized.
Poe said SB No. 1310 also included penalties for “spoofing” or the altering of SIM cards to make it appear that messages were sent by other registered users.
She said the registration of SIM cards is very timely since a lot of people, including senators, have been receiving text scam messages.
“The intent of this (proposed) law is to strengthen the Cybercrime Law… It’s not a silver bullet but it’s a step in the right direction,” Poe said.
