AT its start yesterday, the SIM registration was met with either indifference or fell prey to the famous Filipino mañana mentality, as a majority of people randomly approached in a mall in Cagayan de Oro was asked the question: “Naka pa register na ka sa imong SIM?” answered in the negative.
Those that did answer in the affirmative, albeit a few, encountered either a lag in their online registration, or encountered an error in the registration page.
Yesterday marked the start of the mandatory registration of all Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards with the relevant Public Telecommunications Entity (PTE).
Users must register their New SIM cards bought by users must be registered with the relevant PTE to activate them. All existing SIM subscribers must register with PTEs within 180 days of the law’s implementation.
“Wala pa ko nag register. Wala man pu’y dali-an, dugay paman ang deadline,” a saleslady in one of the cellphone and accessories shops in the mall, declared.
Her co-workers also made the comment that they still have not read the procedure for doing so.
President Ferdinand Marcos signed into act Republic Act No. 11934, otherwise known as the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act.
The law is to supposedly curb mobile phone and online fraud via smishing, defined as the fraudulent practice of sending text messages purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers.
Mobile phone subscribers have until June 27, next year to register their SIMs or face deactivation.
