House OKs mandatory SIM card registration bill on second reading

File photo of SIM cards. AFP photo

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on second reading the mandatory registration of all mobile subscriber identity module (SIM) cards despite doubts about its effect on crime deterrence.

The lower chamber approved House Bill No. 14 – which is a consolidation of 16 other proposed measures – via voice voting on the motion of House Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor of Iloilo.

If passed into law, those who intend to purchase SIM cards must register their personal information with telecommunication bodies or authorized card sellers.

A central database of validated SIM card information will be established and maintained by the Public Telecommunications Entities, to be submitted to the National Telecommunications Commission.

The bill “intends [to deter] illegal acts using SMS technology and aid law enforcers in tracking down criminals who exploit the anonymity provided by the current system,” Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco, who chairs the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology, said in his sponsorship speech.

Tiangco also noted that many countries in the world had a similar measure which, he claimed, “often anchored their decision to do so on the belief that it will improve the efficiency of law enforcement and their counter-terrorism efforts.”

No evidence it deters crime

But Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel questioned the insinuated connection of the measure’s implementation to crime deterrence.

Citing data from the Global System for Mobile Communications in 2016, Manuel said that no empirical evidence was found to prove that mandatory SIM card registration would reduce crime.

He further noted that in other countries, this measure was seen as counterproductive as it led to the rise of black markets for unregistered SIM cards, identity fraud, and data breaches, among other illegal activities.

“The results were the opposite of what the SIM card registration promised. We have yet to find enough evidence of its intended effects given the experiences of other countries,” Manuel said in Filipino.

Not a silver bullet

In response, Tiangco stressed that the bill was “not a silver bullet.”

“Hindi naman porket pinasa natin iyong SIM card registration, lahat po ng scam na ginagamitan ng cellphone ay nareresolbahan natin. Ngunit ito po ang unang hakbang. This is the first step,” he added.

(“Just because we have passed [the] SIM card registration [bill], it doesn’t mean that we can resolve all scams that use cellphones. But this is a first step,”)

Manuel argued, however, that crimes linked to identity theft rose in the countries where such a measure was enforced.

Tiangco then ascertained that all information acquired through the mandatory registration of SIM cards would be kept “absolutely confidential” in adherence to the data privacy protection law.

But in the interest of security and crime deterrence, he said that “information may be disclosed subject to reasonable grounds and court orders under the principle of due process.”

Third-party resellers

Manuel later expressed distrust on the preparedness of third-party resellers – who will acquire the subscribers’ data upon the SIM card’s purchase – in handling sensitive and personal data of massive volume.

“Our data can become prone to being lost or, if not, to being used to do something bad or being abused,” he added.

Tiangco said he doubted that this would be a problem since currently personal data was already being collected from those buying prepaid SIM cards.

“The only difference is that if this bill is passed into law, all those intending to buy a SIM card will be asked for such information, not just prepaid SIM card users,” he said.

Last Monday, Sept. 5, the bill earned the approval of the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology.

House Bill. No. 14 was filed and authored by Speaker Martin Romualdez, Ilocos First District Rep. Alexander Marcos, and Representatives Yedda Marie Romualdez and Jude Acidre — both of the Tingog party-list group.

It was refiled in the lower chamber just a few months after former President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the measure due to a provision mandating the inclusion of registration for social media providers.

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