SENATE President Aquilino Pimentel III supports Senator Vicente Sotto III’s proposal mandating telecommunication companies to register pre-paid subscriber identification module (SIM) cards to address abuses resulting from the loose sale of such cards in the country.
Aside from preventing unscrupulous individuals and criminals in using pre-paid SIM cards in their illegal activities, Pimentel said Wednesday the registration will also enhance government monitoring and collection system on the telcos.
“I fully support Sen. Sotto’s move calling for the mandatory registration of pre-paid SIM cards. We have witnessed how criminal minds abused the non-registration and loose regulation on SIM cards –latest of which was the Davao City bombing where the bomb was allegedly detonated using a cellular phone,” Pimentel said.
Pimentel cited the Malaysian model in registration of pre-paid SIM cards. Aside from recording of SIM card users, the registration could also improve monitoring of sales and tax payment of telcos.
“Aside from recording data of pre-paid SIM users, the registration can also enhance government monitoring of, and revenue collection from telcos as audits can be done easily based primarily on the recorded purchase of pre-paid SIM cards, and to ensure accuracy and validity of subscribers’ records,” Pimentel said.
Since Dec. 16, 2006, Malaysia mandated the registration of all SIM cards bought and issued in Kuala Lumpur before being activated. The registration is done at the point of purchase and takes only a minute or two.
Under Sotto’s proposed Senate Bill No. 7, the National Telecommunications Commission, in close coordination with the Department of Trade and Industry and telco companies, shall formulate the necessary guidelines for the proper implementation of the pre-paid SIM card registration process.
The bill also states all mobile phone service providers shall require ownership registration as prerequisite to selling pre-paid SIM cards.
The use of pre-paid SIM cards has flourished as these can be purchased practically anywhere by anybody without any need to present identification and/or credit background checks.
In the Philippines, the subscriber base of pre-paid SIM cards grows dramatically each year, reaching an estimated number of almost 100 million, or about 90 percent of the entire cellular phone service market.
Sen. Win Gatchalian had earlier urged President Rodrigo Duterte to certify as urgent a measure which mandates the registration of prepaid subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, explaining this policy would help curb the increasing number of text message bomb threats as in recent weeks.
Gatchalian, author of Senate Bill No. 203, or the SIM Card Registration Act, stressed the necessity of his bill as the country remains under a State of National Emergency on account of lawless violence following the tragic Davao City bombing.
Since the bombing, explosion scares sent via text message have caused commotions at several schools in densely-populated areas such as Metro Manila and Davao City.
“Mandatory registration of prepaid mobile numbers will discourage ill-willed pranksters and allow us to punish those who currently perpetrate security scares through text message with impunity. More importantly, this measure will empower law enforcement authorities to trace and suppress legitimate terror threats during these uncertain times,” said Gatchalian, a member of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security.
Under Senate Bill No. 203, all direct sellers of prepaid SIM cards must compel prospective buyers to present a valid photo ID before completing the sale.