ILOILO City – Less than a month is left before the subscriber identity module (SIM) card registration deadline as mandated by Republic Act (RA) 11934 or the SIM Registration Act.
Engr. Leah Dela Cruz-Doromal, chief of the Enforcement and Operation Division of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Region 6, said SIM registration will only run until July 25, 2023. Starting July 26, all unregistered SIMs will be automatically deactivated.
“Deactivated state” refers to the condition or status of a SIM that renders it incapable of being used for outgoing and incoming calls, internet access, or sending and receiving messages, except for exclusively enabling and informing such a SIM to be registered.
“Sa mga taga-Western Visayas, gina-encourage gid namon kamo nga magrehistro na sang inyo mga SIM card (To all of you here in Western Visayas, we encourage you to register your SIM card),” Doromal told Panay News on Monday morning, June 26.
The NTC-6 has yet to determine if the implementation of RA 11934 will be extended again. To recall, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. moved the deadline to another 90 days starting April 25.
Doromal encouraged the public to register soon to avoid last-minute inconveniences.
“If you could, as soon as possible or earlier than the July 25 deadline,” appealed Doromal.
On their part, public telecommunication entities (PTEs) or telecommunication companies such as Smart, Globe and DITO are prepared for a possible influx of subscribers on the last day of registration, Doromal said.
PTEs experienced this during the original last day of registration on April 26, and there have been no glitches on the websites so far, she added.
“They are prepared for anything that could happen on the day of the deadline on July 25,” said Doromal in Hiligaynon.
Here are the links to remember for the SIM card registration:
* for DITO subscribers – https://dito.ph/RegisterDITO
* for Globe subscribers – https://new.globe.com.ph/simreg
* for Smart subscribers – https://smart.com.ph/simreg
As the SIM card registration deadline nears, the NTC-6 regional office, headed by Engr. Jovita V. Chongco, and PTEs also intensified the information campaign.
PTEs visit towns or cities to assist subscribers with the process, particularly senior citizens and persons with disabilities.
Doromal also reminded the public to provide the correct information when registering their SIM because there will be a corresponding penalty for those who give fictitious information.
Under the implementing rules and regulations of RA 11934, the penalty of imprisonment ranging from six months to two years or a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P300,000, or both, shall be imposed upon anyone who provides false or fictitious information or who uses a fictitious identity or fraudulent identification documents to register a SIM.
SIM registration minimized text scams?
Doromal said she was delighted that the SIM registration has been, so far, effective against text scams in Western Visayas. The NTC-6 has received fewer complaints since the law took effect.
“We are very thankful. Our SIM Registration Act had good effects, especially as we observed here in the regional office,” she said in Hiligaynon.
As of Saturday, June 24, 100,478,511 SIMs were registered in the Philippines. Below is the breakdown per PTE.
* SMART – 47,468,552
* GLOBE – 46,047,285
* DITO – 6,962,674./PN
