180-day SIM card registration period starts

The implementation of the SIM Card Registration Act started Tuesday, with several Filipino subscribers already trying to register their own Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.

Based on an Unang Balita report by James Agustin, a number of people in Caloocan received a one-time pin, reference number, and confirmation text message from the telecommunications firm where they registered their SIM cards to.

Meanwhile, others are still waiting for notice from the telcos so they could register their SIM cards before the 180-day registration period ends.

As the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the SIM registration take effect on Tuesday, December 27, several individuals expressed hope that this measure would help eliminate text scams.

"Sa 'kin okay lang naman na i-register ang SIM card para maiwasan ‘yung scam. Marami kasing scammer ngayon," Abdul Karim said.

(For me, it's okay to register the SIM card to avoid scams as there are so many scammers these days.)

"Pabor po ako doon para maiwasan ‘yung mga nagte-text... na manloko. Alam kong naka-register 'to, madaling ma-detect 'yung number na nagte-text sa 'kin," Angeluz Badilla also said.

(I'm in favor of SIM card registration to prevent fraudulent activities. When the SIM is registered, it would be easy to detect the number texting me.)

Among the information that users have to divulge in the registration forms are their name, date of birth, gender, and home address. They also have to provide a government-issued ID with their photo.

There are around 180 million SIM cards currently being used in the country, according to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

Starting Tuesday, all new SIM cards will be deactivated and subscribers would have to abide by the process of the telcos to have their SIM cards registered and activated.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), however, warned the public against fake registration links so they would not be victimized by phishing scams.

Based on a separate Unang Balita report, DICT advised the public to only register their SIM in legitimate websites of telecommunications companies.

They were also told not just to click any links, and carefully inspect if the link is the same link to the registration sites.

They may also call the DICT hotline at 1326 if they encounter any problem with their SIM registration.

"Kung may mga tao na mangangahas na gamitin kunwari 'yung fake information, fake IDs na mapaparusahan po sila [Those who will use fake information or fake IDs will be punished] because after initial registration process, we’ll conduct a post-verification process, meaning just to confirm the identity," DICT undersecretary Anna Mae Lamentillo said.

'All systems go'

Several telecommunications firms on Tuesday expressed readiness of the implementation of the SIM Card Registration Act.

PLDT and Smart Corporate Communications First Vice President and Group Head Cathy Yang said their 70 million subscribers would only have to spare three minutes to have their SIM cards registered for free.

“All systems go na tayo sa SIM registration. Nagsimula siya an hour ago, 6:37 a.m. Manila time nag-open. Inilunsad namin ‘yung SIM registration portal para sa mahigit kumulang nating 70 million subscribers, kasama na rito ang ating prepaid at postpaid subscribers,” she said in a Dobol B TV interview.

(All systems go for the SIM registration. We started an hour ago, 6:37 a.m. Manila time. We launched the SIM registration portal for our more than 70 million subscribers, including our prepaid and postpaid subscribers.)

In an advisory on Facebook on Tuesday morning, Smart said some subscribers may experience difficulty accessing its SIM registration site due to the high volume of registrants.

The subscribers were encouraged to try again at a later time.

Meanwhile, Globe Group Chief Sustainability and Corporate Communications Officer Yoly Crisanto said that they launched their own website a while ago, but they had to put it down to make way for some adjustments in their system.

"Kahapon, base sa press conference, naghingi ng some form of verification ang ating gobyerno, tayo ay sumusunod naman sa hinihingi sa atin… kaya kinakailangan ngayon ay mag-upload ng selfie," she said.

(Yesterday, based on the press conference, our government asked for some form of verification, wherein it is now necessary to upload a selfie.)

For registration concerns, users of DITO Telecommunity Corp. can visit https://dito.ph/registerDITO, Globe Telecom Inc. at https://new.globe.com.ph/simreg, and Smart at https://smart.com.ph/simreg.

In October, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. signed the SIM Card Registration Act into law, which mandates all public telecommunications entities (PTEs) to establish their own registration platform where they will onboard their users who present valid identification cards.

This measure seeks to end crimes using the platform including text and online scams by regulating the sale and the use of SIMs through mandating registration to end-users.  —KBK, GMA Integrated News