FROM INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said that as of Wednesday, 16.56 million subscriber identity module (SIM) cards out of the 170 million SIM cards in the country had already been registered.
Undersecretary Anna Mae Lamentillo, spokesperson for the DICT, said during the Laging Handa briefing that Smart Communications had recorded 7.75 million registrants, compared to 7.34 million for Globe and 1.46 million for DITO Telecommunity.
Lamentillo said that the DICT had partnered with telecommunications companies, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Education to facilitate SIM registration in geographically isolated areas in the country.
She advised the public to register their SIM cards only through the official websites of telco companies to avoid being victims of scammers.
Those with concerns and issues regarding the SIM registration may call the DICT’s 24/7 complaint center through hotline 1326.
Lamentillo also warned the public against using false information and fake identification cards when registering their SIM cards, saying that there was a post verification system after the initial registration phase.
At the same time, she defended the inclusion of selfie verification in the registration process which some groups said was a clear violation of privacy.
Antispoofing
But according to Lamentillo, the selfie verification system “[was a] way for the public to be ensured that their identities are protected,” adding, “It’s an additional verification mechanism.”
“During the selfie verification system, the face on the ID must match [that of] the person registering because we don’t want spoofing to happen, which is also a crime under the SIM Registration Law,” she said. Spoofing happens when an individual pretends to be someone else.
Despite the ongoing SIM card registration, Lamentillo admitted that there were still spam messages and text scams.
“Now they (scammers) can still do it, but when all the SIMs are registered, we will have their identity,” she said. “We hope that there will be a big reduction [in scam messages] and even if someone tries to scam, at least we have a way to actually pinpoint who they are.”