Poe eyes approval of SIM Card Registration bill in November

Sen. Grace Poe. Senate PRIB file photo / Voltaire F. Domingo / Bibo Nueva España

MANILA, Philippines —The target approval of the bill requiring subscribers to register SIM cards is in November this year, Senator Grace Poe said on Monday.

Poe cited the need to pass the proposed law amid reports of scam text messages sent specifically to mobile phone service subscribers.

Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services, will lead fresh discussions on several bills on Wednesday to have a common measure for approval in November.

“Ang SIM Card Registration bill ay kasama sa prayoridad ng Senado na maipasa,” Poe said in a radio interview Monday.

(The bill is one of the priorities of the Senate.)

“Nag-hearing na kami d’yan noon, marami na kaming nakalap na impormasyon at kaisipan tungkol dyan. Kung matatapos natin ang hearing sa Wednesday, technical working group na lang sa susunod na linggo, tapos baka pwede na natin ma-plenaryo. Hopefully, ito ay mapasa by November.  Ito ang nakikita nating timeline kasi hihintayin pa rin natin ang bersyon ng House,” she added.

(We conducted hearings on that before, and we were able to gather information and insights about the bill. If we can finish the hearing by Wednesday, a technical working group will be convened next week. Then we can bring it up to the plenary. Hopefully, this can be passed by November. This is the timeline I am seeing since we are still waiting for the House version of the bill.)

Poe said several schemes are being perpetrated through text messages to dupe people into sending money or making available their private information.

Aside from the spam texts marketing various products, Poe said she also received messages and calls from persons pretending to be people in government and asking for financial support.

“May isang tumawag sa akin sa isang app, sinasabi na siya raw yung ambassador.  Iyong profile nya na lumabas sa app, iyon nga ‘yung ambassador na ‘yun, kaya lang hindi naman sya ‘yun,” Poe said.

(Someone called me up through an app claiming to be the ambassador. The profile was indeed the ambassador, but the caller was not.)

“Wala nga sa kamalayan natin ‘yan, ‘yung sinasabi nilang mirroring, pero nangyari sa atin,” she added.

(We are unaware of the so-called mirroring, but it happened to us.)

Mounting complaints of text scams will be tackled in the committee hearing on Wednesday, Poe said.

Concerned agencies and stakeholders, such as the National Privacy Commission, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, and telecommunications firms, will be called to attend.

The Department of Trade and Industry will also be invited to explain the proliferation of text blasters and other gadgets in the market being used in the fraudulent activities, the senator said.

Poe has refiled her own SIM Card Registration bill which will be among the measures for discussion in the hearing.

Under her bill, the country’s telecommunications companies will be the gatekeeper of the information obtained in the registration process.

These data must not be divulged except in compliance with laws obligating such need in accordance with the Data Privacy Act, upon court order or with the subscriber’s written consent.

Any breach of confidentiality will be meted with imprisonment or penalties from P300,000 to P1 million.

“All mobile phone users have, in one way or the other become victims of scam texts. Stopping fraudsters is a battle we have to urgently wage together,” Poe said.

Senator Nancy Binay likewise shared an encounter with such text scams, saying she received a random text message with her name.

“Sa totoo lang, nagulat ako—it’s both an unexplained fear and a terrifying surprise. Noong una, parang okey lang at dedma since paminsan-minsan may natatanggap talaga tayong burst SMS na mga marketing promo or weather advisories,” she said in a separate statement.

(In reality, I was shocked — it’s both an unexplained fear and a terrifying surprise. At first, it seemed okay, and we can ignore it since we can get burst SMS with marketing promos or weather advisories.)

“Then, meron nang kung anu-anong offer na trabaho o kesyo nanalo ka ng premyo. Pero nang maka-receive ako ng text message sa personal phone ko with my name, I was so shocked dahil never kong ginagamit ang personal phone ko in online transactions. Ni hindi nga naka-link sa ibang social media accounts ang number ko. So, paano nakuha ang number ko?” Binay added.

(Then, we’re now getting job offers or prizes. But when I received a text message on my phone with my name, I was shocked because I never used my phone in online transactions. I didn’t even link this to social media accounts. So how did they get this number?)

Binay said she is set to file a Senate resolution urging the Senate to investigate, in aid of legislation, the upsurge of text scams, smishing, text spams, and other malicious solicitations and unwanted text messages.

“Grabe, ibang level na dahil sobrang entrenched na ang ganitong cybercrime groups sa mga data na supposedly secured, private and confidential. Kasi, kung may personal information na na kasama sa mga text scams, it may extend to something bigger and more sophisticated scheme. Nakakatakot na,” Binay warned.

(This is a whole different level because cybercrime groups are already deeply entrenched in supposedly secured, private and confidential data. If there is personal information already attached to these scams, it may extend to something bigger and more sophisticated scheme. It’s scary.)

She said she plans to inquire about the concrete solutions being undertaken by responsible government agencies to end the unrestricted intensification of the mentioned activities.

“Habang tumatagal at wala tayong aksyon na ginagawa, lalong nagiging kapanipaniwala ang mga scams at maraming tao ang maaaring mabiktima,” Binay pointed out.

(The longer we are not taking action, the more these scams become believable and many people will be victimized.)

For Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, there should be a “user-friendly” mechanism for the public to report these text scams and an easy deactivation of the number that are being used for these scams.

He said an inter-agency group was formed last year for” smishing” or text scams. However, such acts are still rampant, and the situation is getting worse.

“Nais po nating malaman mula sa mga miyembro ng Inter-Agency Group na ito ang mga susunod na hakbang sa pagtukoy ng mga source ng data breaches o leakage, at tayo po ay handang lumahok sa ano mang imbestigasyon o diskusyon sa Senado,” Villanueva said.

(We would like to ask the members of the inter-agency group what are their next steps in tracing the source of these data breaches, and we are ready to attend any investigation or discussion in the Senate.)

He said he had refiled his Anti-Spam Act, which aims to protect telephone and mobile subscribers against scams.

The proposed law provides a penalty of P50,000 to P100,000 per violation, such as sending misleading links and collecting personal information without permission.

He said that the bill also tasks the National Privacy Commission and other government agencies to be active in going after these scammers.

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