4 lawmakers propose SIM card registration
Four lawmakers allied with the administration are seeking to require the registration of subscriber’s identity module or SIM cards to minimize scamming and mobile phone-aided criminal activities.
House Bill (HB) 14 – co-authored by Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, Ilocos Rep. Ferdinand Alex Marcos and party-list Tingog Reps.Yedda Marie Romualdez and Juce Acidre – seeks ownership registration of SIM cards.
Citing a World bank report, the bill states that there are 137 mobile phone subscriptions, both postpaid and active prepaid accounts, per 100 Filipinos.
“Data indicate that there are Filipinos who have multiple cellular subscriptions. This may be due in part to the affordability and accessibility of prepaid SIM cards in the Philippines,” the proposal stated.
Currently, a SIM card can be purchased for as low as P30 in a sari-sari or convenience store.
“The affordability and accessibility of SIM cards have resulted in the democratization of mobile communications, possibly contributing to a more level playing field in terms of employment, education and access to public information,” the bill stated.
“But having an unregulated SIM card market has also given way to mobile phone scams such as simple text messages asking users to send cellular loads and more sophisticated voice phishing methods and marketing spams,” the bill said.
According to the bill, tracing people behind the text scams to hold them accountable for fraud, breach of privacy and other offenses has become impossible because SIM cards are not registered.
“The time has come to regulate the sale and distribution of SIM cards in order to promote end-user accountability, prevent the proliferation of mobile phone scams and data breaches and to assist law enforcement agencies in resolving crimes involving the use of mobile phone units,” according to HB 14. The proposal had been filed during the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th Congresses, but it was only during the recent Congress that the House approved it on third and final reading.
Meanwhile, Globe Telecom has expressed support for a House proposal seeking to transfer most government transactions to digital platforms in a push for e-governance.
Globe president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu yesterday said the telco provider backs the passage of the proposed E-Governance Act of 2022 filed by incoming Speaker Romualdez.
Cu said moving government processes online would expedite the completion of transactions as simple as obtaining work requirement to as complex as acquiring business papers.
“Digitalization offers convenience and ease of doing routine transactions. It saves time and effort that would be spent in interminable queues which is very unproductive,” Cu said.
Lawmakers can look into the practices of the Department of Finance (DOF) as an example of how digitalization benefits the government.
In January the DOF reported that revenue agencies sustained their collection efforts during the pandemic due to prior projects that relocated their payment schemes to digital channels.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) expanded the scope of its electronic network to 4.63 million business taxpayers in 2021 from 4.41 million in 2020.
Last year the BIR increased its tax collections by five percent to P2.08 trillion, while the Bureau of Customs (BOC) raised its revenue haul by a fifth to P643.56 billion.
Former finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the digitalization of BIR and BOC operations enabled the government to collect taxes even at the height of the pandemic.
The measure seeks to put up an integrated network that will house data and records pertinent to the delivery of government services.
Under the bill, the head of the agency, state-run firm or local government unit will be tasked to implement the transition.
The bill also requires the Department of Information and Communications Technology to set up within a year from the effectivity of the law, a project management office tasked to oversee the implementation.
“We are looking forward to the progress of this bill in Congress and (we) stand ready to support the government to see its digitalization goal into full fruition,” Cu said.