Subscriber Identity Module or SIM. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Scammers can no longer lurk in the shadows of their unsolicited and dubious text messages.
Starting Wednesday, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will already be able to identify them as the mandatory registration of the Subscriber Identity Module or SIM expires at exactly 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, July 25.
DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said the public may report to them text scams they will receive from July 26.
READ: DICT: No more SIM card registration extension
“Opo, mag-file na po kayo [ng complaint] at malalaman natin kung sino ang nagpadala nyan. Pwede nating [sampahan ng kaso o reklamo],” Uy said in an interview over DZBB.
(File the complaint, and we will know who sent it. We can file a case or complaint.)
READ: SIM card registration: A step-by-step guide
Republic Act No. 11934, or the SIM Registration Act, aims to curb electronic communication-aided crimes like mobile phishing and text spam. The law was enacted in October 2022.
Data from the DICT showed that of the more than 160 million SIMs nationwide, 105,260,340 have already registered as of July 23.
Specifically, 48,019,084 subscribers of Globe Telecom; 49,740,428 subscribers of Smart Communications, and 7,500,828 subscribers of Dito Telecommunity have registered their SIMs before the July 25 deadline.
Under RA 11934, all mobile phone and data subscribers must register their SIMs with their respective telco providers.
The law’s implementing rules and regulations state that failure to register will automatically deactivate a user’s SIM. The deactivated SIM may only be reactivated after registration, provided that reactivation will be made not later than five days after the automatic deactivation.