House OKs SIM card registration bill on second reading

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the bill mandating the registration of mobile subscriber identity module (SIM) cards amid the proliferation of spam text messages and offers of shady transactions. 

House Bill No. 14 was approved via voice vote after the motion of House Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor of Iloilo.

Navotas Representative Tobias Tiangco, chairman of the House information and communications technology panel and principal sponsor of the measure, said the mandatory SIM registration is one way to prevent people from falling prey to scammers. 

Tiangco made the response when asked by Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel about data showing countries with similar measure were able to bring down crime rates. 

“Crimes are not just perpetuated by using a SIM card. What we would like to concentrate on this are crimes involving SIM cards. As to the question of the crime rate of those countries, it would not reflect on the law’s effectiveness. Let us look at our daily experience. We get more phishing and smishing text messages than those from people we know,” Tiangco said.

“We are being sent links na inaaya tayong mangutang. Hindi natin alam ang pinanggalingan ng mga text messages na ito. That is why it is very important to pass this measure into law so we can determine if these messages are legitimate or otherwise. This is for the protection for all consumers, lalo na iyong mahihirap na nabibiktima nito kasi sinabi na puede mangutang na walang collateral...kaya I-click nila it,” Tiangco added.

Manuel, however, argued that such measure could result in more data breaches, if not identity theft. 

“If we are proposing a law, we should be certain that this measure will be effective. SIM cards can be cloned using varying devices,” Manuel said. 

Tiangco, however, said that the bill provides a confidentiality clause and is not the be all and end all in crime fighting. 

“The confidentiality clause takes effect from the point of the sale of the SIM card and the bill bans the execution of a waiver of confidentiality on the part of the public telecommunication entity or the consumer,” Tiangco said. 

“This is not a silver bullet. This is just the first step,” he added.—LDF, GMA News