IF it were up to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, telecommunications companies (telcos) should stick to the April 26 deadline to register subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.

He said telcos and users must abide by the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 11934, of the SIM Card Registration Act.

That is, to register all SIM cards within 180 days of the IRR approval or until April 26.

If unregistered by the deadline date, the SIM card may be deactivated.

Remulla told reporters on Monday that no decision has been reached yet on the request of telcos to extend the deadline by at least another 120 days.

“My view there really is that the law was there six months ago. It was really up to them (subscribers and telcos) to follow the law and there will be a lot of repercussions but the telco companies should not make it an opportunistic event. Dapat dyan fair sila sa lahat (They should be fair to all),” he said.

The registration extension will be included in the topics to be tackled in a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, according to Remulla.

He said among the concerns are losing access to virtual or digital wallets once the SIM card is deactivated.

A one-time code or personal identification number is sent to the registered number to confirm transactions, like credit card purchases and online banking.

“(T)he law is the law. We have to follow the law. That is the position of the DOJ. If you want to wait for the last minute, there will be consequences,” Remulla said.

Over the weekend, Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy said in a radio interview that they will meet with public telecommunications entities and other stakeholders on Monday to determine if an extension is warranted.

“We will identify the real problem of why some still have failed to register. If we would just extend the deadline without identifying the gap, then the extension will not be effective. The problem should be studied carefully,” Uy said.

Data showed that as of April 20, a total of 76,927,923 subscribers have registered, or around 45 percent of an estimated 168 million subscribers nationwide. Philippine News Agency