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SIM registration law created in vain?

January 26, 2023 Mario Fetalino Jr. 278 views

Mario FetalinoAFRAID of having problems with my sim cards if I don’t register them as required by law, I have sought the help of my children to do the job.

It’s embarrassing that I remain unfamiliar with the various functions of or apps in my cellular phone which makes me too timid to register my sim cards. I don’t even know if there’s any relation between those two matters.

Clearly, I’m a dinosaur on technology. But I’m not giving up on it. Proof is that I’m entertaining issues surrounding the sim registration law.

An interesting point raised by a network of digital advocates claiming that the volume of spam messages received by subscribers have significantly decreased in the last few months even prior to the implementation of the law.

According to the group, spam messages actually have lessened after telecommunication companies employed measures to address spam texts which include blocking of URLs in text messages.

As per monitoring and confirmation from other subscribers, Digital Pinoys national campaigner Ronald Gustilo said the noted a sharp decrease on the number of spam messages received by mobile phone users.

Most have not even received any spam text since telcos implemented measures to address the issue.

It can be recalled that the last quarter of 2022 saw the sudden increase of cases of spam messages which escalated to personalized spam messages.

It is a good thing that the public sounded the alarm against spam messages. This prompted telcos and the NTC to immediately implement measures to address the issue — the blocking of URLs in text messages.”

The significant reduction in spam messages proves that telcos have the capacity to address the issue even without government interference and legislation.

The telcos were able to do it even without legislation. All it took was for the telcos to listen to their subscribers.

It only shows that the SIM registration law is not the solution to combat spam messages.

Last year, President Marcos Jr. signed the bill that aims to regulate the release of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards to curb the proliferation of text message scams in the country.

Marcos signed Republic Act No. (RA) 11934 also known as An Act Requiring the Registration of SIM Cards two days after Marcos marked his first 100 days in office on Oct. 8.

Marcos thanked lawmakers from the Senate and House of Representatives for coming up with a “long overdue” measure seeking to resolve crimes using SIM cards.

Marcos expressed hope that his administration would enact even more measures that would help ensure security, progress, and prosperity for the nation and people.

RA 11934, which is a consolidation of House Bill No. 14 and Senate Bill No. 1310, requires Public Telecommunication Entities (PTEs) or direct sellers to demand end users of SIM cards to present a valid identification document to validate their identities.

It also requires PTEs to submit a verified list of their authorized dealers and agents nationwide to the NTC and an update list of the same every quarter of each year.

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