In a bi-cameral conference, the Senate has ratified what will be the consolidated version of the 2022 SIM Registration Act (Senate Bill No. 1310). This will soon head to Malacanang for Pres. Bongbong Marcos to finally sign into a law.
According to Sen. Grace Poe, who is the principal author of the Senate bill, the reconciled bill includes the following provisions:
<li>The term “card” dropped from the bill to cover all present and future SIM variations.</li>
<li>Registration goes directly through telcos’ platform as a pre-requisite to the activation of SIM. This means all new SIM cards bought will be inactive until you register the SIM.</li>
<li>180-day period of registration by minors through a parent or a guardian.</li>
<li>Data of existing postpaid subscribers should already be included in the SIM register.</li>
<li>Telcos are mandated to establish registration facilities in remote areas within 60 days from the effectivity of the law.</li>
The new bill no longer includes the controversial social media registration clause which was the reason why former Pres. Duterte vetoed it last April.
This policy based on trying to or vent scams and fraud as well as other criminal acts is doomed to fail this policy will not stop these crimes simply because people running scams or crimes can just use internet people have access to Internet cafes and free public WiFi networks
Most of the scam text messages we get are being sent from online services those text blasting services or even free services like afreesms
So how will this policy work when everything you can do with a mobile phone and a Sim card can all be done on the internet
Frankly this is a violation of rights to privacy and very possibly a way if government sniffing out tax dodgers who do online business ( welcome to VPN )