Last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration implemented the SIM Registration Act, requiring all consumers to register their SIM cards to combat digital fraud, specifically messaging scams. Please comply with the registration deadline of April 26 resulted in the deactivation of over 50% of Philippine SIM cards on July 27, 2023. As of July 25, only 49.31% of active SIM cards were registered, which equates to over 50 million SIM cards being deactivated. 

This could significantly impact the country’s telecommunications and online services industries. DITO Telecommunity Corp’s CEO, Dennis Ang Uy, voiced his support for the government’s goal of transforming the economy through digitalization and connectivity, stating that those who have not registered their SIM cards by July 26 at 12:01 a.m. will no longer be able to use their phones for calls, text messages, or data.

The government’s SIM card registration requirement has significantly reduced spam text messages, but the low registration rate may be due to concerns about government monitoring. Despite requests for an extension of the deadline from telecom providers like Smart Communications, the Department of Information and Communications Technology refused the proposal on Thursday, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between the government and the telecommunications sector. Failure or refusal to register may be penalized for a minimum of PHP100,000 for the first offense, to PHP1 million maximum for the third and subsequent offense.-CHIKA MINUTE