A network of digital advocates urged the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to extend the deadine for the registration of SIMs.
Digital Pinoys national campaigner Ronald Gustilo said that extending the deadline will benefit millions of subscribers who are still unable to register due to technological and other limitations.
“There is a clear need for the extension of the SIM registration. Many subscribers will find their SIMs deactivated if the registration deadline is not extended. While there are efforts from telco providers to push their subscribers to register, there are still limitations as to why the huge number of subscribers are not yet registered.”
The latest available information from the DICT shows that only 36.79% of the more than 168 million SIMs have been registered.
More than 100 million SIM users will be lose their SIM activation and disenfranchised in the event that all unregistered SIMs will be deactivated.
Gustilo said that the lack of valid identification cards and technological limitations hinder subscribers from registering.
“With many Filipinos having difficulty securing a valid identification card, it will be impossible for them as well to register their SIMs until such time they secured their IDs. There are also cases in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) wherein there is no available network coverage yet, or they have network coverage but not strong enough to access the registration sites. There are also cases wherein there is no available smart gadget for them to use to register. This is something that the DICT should address.”
Suspension of implementation
Gustilo said that if the number of registered SIMs will not improve, the government should also consider suspending the SIM registration indefinitely.
“If in the event that the deadline is extended and the number of registrants did not improve significantly, the government should consider the suspension of the SIM registration law so that amendments and improvements can be deliberated and tested.”
Gustilo added that the government should also consider the deployment of registration teams in GIDAs, in partnership with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), to provide assistance to residents without valid identification cards.
“The inability to secure identification cards has been a long time problem for many people. And this problem is now compounded by the possibility of having their SIMs deactivated. The government should exhaust all efforts to provide all possible assitance to subscribers so that they will not be disenfranchised.”###
