Senate approves SIM registration bill on 2nd reading

The proposed SIM Registration Act is one step away from getting Senate approval after the chamber passed it on second reading Monday.

Senate Bill 1310 was approved on second reading barely a week after Senate Public Services Committee Chairperson Grace Poe sponsored the measure on the floor.

Among the major amendments introduced on the measure was the title. Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III proposed to change the bill's title to "An Act Mandating the Registration of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) for Electronic Devices, Regulating for this Purpose Its Registration and Use."

Poe accepted the minority chief's proposed amendment.

Poe reiterated that the intention of the proposed law was to help "aid law enforcement in capturing those who take advantage of our citizens."

Under the bill, all public telecommunications entities (PTEs) shall require the registration of SIMs as a prerequisite to its activation.

The requirement seeks to deter the proliferation of SIM or electronic communication-aided crimes such as but not limited to terrorism; text scams; unsolicited, indecent or obscene messages; bank fraud; and massive disinformation.

All existing SIM subscribers with active services shall register with their respective PTEs within 180 days from the effectivity of the proposed law.

An extension period of no longer than 120 days shall be allowed upon a valid written request to the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

Should the subscriber fail to register within the prescribed period, PTEs are authorized to automatically deactivate or retire the SIM number and registration.

SB 1310 also calls for SIM electronic registration forms to be kept by the concerned PTE in a centralized database.

This database shall strictly serve as a SIM registry to be used by PTEs to process, activate or deactivate subscriptions and shall not be used for any other purpose.

Earlier in the day, the House of Representatives approved SB 1310's counterpart measure on third and final reading.

House Bill No. 14, approved with 250 yes votes, six no votes and one abstention, orders PTEs or direct sellers to require the end user of a SIM card to present a valid ID with photo to ascertain the latter's identity.

Recently, several senators expressed concern over the proliferation of spam and phishing text messages received by end users.

This prompted the Senate public services committee to immediately tackle the SIM Card Registration bills filed in the 19th Congress.

In the 18th Congress, the bill reached Malacanang for the president's signature, but was vetoed by then President Rodrigo Duterte due to the provision on social media registration. — DVM, GMA News