Congress sends SIM registration, barangay and SK polls postponement bills to Palace

The leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday officially transmitted to Malacanang the enrolled copies of the bills on SIM registration and postponement of the 2022 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez turned over the first two measures approved by the 19th Congress to  Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Secretary Mark Llandro “Dong” Mendoza for the approval and signature of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

“Hopefully these first enrolled bills will now turn into our first two laws. Nakakabuo na tayo ng maganda at effective na working relationship with the House, and if our bicameral sessions for these two bills are anything to go by, then I think we can all expect to have a very active and productive 19th Congress," Zubiri was quoted as saying.

Zubiri and Romualdez held a ceremonial signing of the enrolled bills on Tuesday morning. They were joined by Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, Senators Grace Poe, Imee Marcos, and JV Ejercito, House Majority Leader Mannix Dalipe, Representatives Toby Tiangco, and Yoyette Ferrer.

Usually, ceremonial signing of bills are only held in Malacanang as the President has the sole authority to either approve or reject the measures passed by Congress.

Zubiri said the President is set to sign the two enrolled bills on Thursday.

In a statement, the Senate president said the two enrolled bills were prioritized by the 19th Congress as both are "very time-sensitive."

“We need this law. Masyado nang laganap ’yung mga text at online scam. Scammers keep on finding creative ways to trick people, and we can’t stop or even trace them kasi nga anonymous sila. Bagong scam, bagong SIM, ganon kadali," he said.

The proposed SIM Registration Act seeks to end crimes using the platform including text and online scams by regulating the sale and the use of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) by mandating registration to end-users.

A similar bill was approved in the 18th Congress but it was vetoed by former President Rodrigo Duterte due to the provision on social media registration.

Meanwhile, the other bill seeks to postpone the 2022 BSKE to the last Monday of October 2023.—AOL, GMA News