Tolentino wants higher pay for 4th SIM card registration

Senator Francis Tolentino (File photo from Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — Mobile users who want to register their fourth subscriber identity module (SIM) card should now pay for it, Senator Francis Tolentino recommended on Thursday.

Tolentino offered this proposal as text scams continue to proliferate despite the implementation of the SIM registration law.

“Ang mungkahi po natin, kaya gusto natin na mas mataas kapag pang-apat na SIM card ay dahil gusto po natin mawala ang mga scammers,” he said in a statement.

(Our suggestion, the reason why we want higher fee for the fourth SIM card is because we want scammers to vanish.)

He likened his suggestion to homeowners’ associations or schools collecting higher fees for additional car stickers.

“Sa mga nangungupahan nating mga kababayan, sa mga condominium, yung parking slot mo, kapag dalawa na ang kotse, mas mataas na rin,” the senator made the comparison.

(Our fellow citizens who are renting in condominiums, your parking slot, if you have two cars, the fee is higher.)

He believes this scheme will prevent scammers from fooling Filipinos.

It was revealed during a Senate hearing on Tuesday that animal photos like a picture of a monkey can be used to register a SIM card.

In the same hearing of Senate committee on public services, National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) also reported having received over 45,000 complaints related to text scams.

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