SIM registration law review sought

An advocacy group is urging the government to reassess the Subscribers Identity Module (SIM) Registration Law as text scams reportedly remained prevalent despite the intervention of Republic Act 11934 almost two years ago.

In a statement, advocacy group Konsyumer at Mamamayan secretary general Pet Climaco stressed that the RA 11934 alone “was a failure because cybercrimes are lift uncurved and in fact, becoming aggressive with the advent of modern technologies.”

“We call for the government to continue to have an assessment on the SIM registration law whether it has really worked or not. It's not because there was already a law [we'll just say] 'let's leave it at that,” Climaco said.

“We brag about [the SIM Card Registration] but what happened? There are still a lot of scammers using text messages and cellphones,” he added.

Despite the implementation of the law, the Philippine National Police have reported that the number of cybercrimes increased by 21.8 percent in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023.

Climaco pointed out that it is a must to review the law from time to time to ascertain its efficiency and need of the times in the face of fast-changing digital innovations.

“In our opinion, it is best that we always study the law maybe every 6 months...did the TWG (Technical Working Group) make the IRR after 6 months "still working?...From there, we can say that it is an upgrade here we are again because we are still getting through,” said Climaco.