THE Philippine National Police (PNP) headed by General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. yesterday said the enactment by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr. of the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Law will give them an adequate tool to effectively thwart online crimes and even terror-related plots.

“This particular measure will undoubtedly add more teeth to law enforcement in the form of accurate identification of all mobile phone users,” the top cop said.

According to the official, telecommunication has been revolutionized extensively over the years such that even criminal syndicates and terrorist organizations have taken advantage of technology for criminal and terrorist activities.

“In our experience, during the onset of the pandemic in 2019 when people were prevented from going outside their homes, criminals shifted activities from traditional crimes to online crimes using telecommunication and cyberspace platforms,” he said.

“They have devised different modus operandi to scam people of their hard-earned money. They hid behind the comfort of anonymity by using prepaid SIM cards to defraud unsuspecting victims,” he added.

The easy access of everyone to pre-paid SIM cards in the country has also been taken advantage of by foreign terrorist organizations in the country. During the so-called Rizal Day bombings on December 30, 2000, suspected Jemaah Islamiyah operatives used ‘cellphone-detonated’ bombs to kill 22 people and injure around 100 others in five sites in Metro Manila.

A similar incident took place at the Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City on the night of November 13, 2007 when a bomb-laden motorcycle was believed to have been detonated with the use of a cell phone killing then Representative Wahab Akbar and a congressional staff and injuring Representatives Luzviminda Ilagan and Pryde Henry Teves and two others.

Police investigators said that in those two deadly attacks, terrorists used cellphones with pre-paid SIM cards to activate powerful improvised explosive devices without being easily identified.

Azurin said the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group alone has recorded a total of 4,254 SIM card related offenses from January to September this year.

“This data does not include cases handled by other units of the PNP, other government institutions, reported incidents being handled by the different financial institutions and cases unreported by victims,” he said.

“We are confident that our people will learn to accept the fact that the benefits of mandatory SIM card registration for all mobile phone users outweigh the perceived privacy issues and other concerns regarding of confidentiality of communications that are duly protected under Philippine laws,” Azurin said.

PNP-ACG director, Brigadier Gen. Joel B. Doria said that from October 3 to October 9, they launched 16 anti-cybercrime operations which include the service of 11 warrants of arrest, and four entrapment operations.

Doria said their Digital Forensic Unit also rendered one technical assistance to other PNP units and ACG cybercops which led to the rescue of a minor from Aurora, Isabela for an alleged incident of online enticement and sextortion.

“The safety of everyone is always our top priority. ACG will continue to step up to the challenge in ensuring that the community has a cybersafe environment,” Brig. Gen. Doria said.

The official enumerated the benefits of the SIM Card Registration Law which include the easy identification of suspects particularly in the investigation of online scams, threats and coercion among others using SIM cards and minimizing the prevalence of phishing/smishing messages.

“However, the ID submitted during SIM registration should be validated to avoid fake identities,” the PNP-ACG director said.

The National Privacy Commission also supported the intention of the SIM Card Registration Law to prevent the proliferation of various and evolving electronic communication-aided criminal activities.

The bill would require anyone who buys a SIM card to register their name with telecommunication companies prior to card activation, while 180 days are given to those who already own a SIM card to register their name with their respective telecom providers. Failure to register would entail an automatic deactivation of the SIM card.

As of 2021, there are 157 countries which are already enforcing mandatory SIM card registration, among them our Asian neighbors China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Hongkong.

No foreigner in these countries can buy a SIM card without presenting their passports for registration, the idea of which is mainly to tackle illicit activities such as drug trafficking, terrorism and phone fraud.