JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla announced on Tuesday that the mandatory registration of SIM cards has been extended for 90 days.

The announcement was made prior to the start of the fourth inter-agency meeting on the Oriental Mindoro oil spill, held at the Department of Justice in Manila.

Remulla said services would be limited for those who failed to register.

“There’s a 90-day extension, but most of the services that come with the cellphones that are not registered will be cut off with the telcos. So there will be a social media unavailability for those who do not register in the next 90 days,” he said.

In a separate message, Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said:” That’s one good news for us to start this meeting, extension of the SIM registration… For those phones or SIM that are not registered, there will be a limitation as to the access.”

Under the SIM Registration Law, public telecommunications entities (PTEs) are required to establish registration platforms for users to register their SIM cards.

Users have been given 180 days or until April 26, 2023 to register their SIMs or risk having them deactivated.

Various sectors have filed a petition with the Supreme Court challenging the legality of the SIM Registration Law.

They argue that the law restricts constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of speech and violates the right against unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as the right to substantive due process.

The petitioners have asked the tribunal to issue a temporary restraining order while the petition is pending.

The groups believe that the SIM Registration Law is unconstitutional and will disenfranchise at least 100 million unregistered Filipinos.

The petition, which spans 59 pages, outlines their arguments and concerns regarding the implementation of the law.

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Hector Lawas