CO-SPONSORSHIP SPEECH
SUBSCRIBER IDENTITY MODULE (SIM) REGISTRATION ACT
Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa

Good afternoon, Mr. President, dear colleagues.

It is my honor to author and co-sponsor Senate Bill No. 1310 under Committee Report No. 5 which is principally sponsored by our hardworking, dedicated, and beautiful Chairperson of the Committee on Public Services, our gentlelady from Pangasinan and Iloilo, Senator Grace Poe.

Malinaw po ang gustong makamit ng panukalang inihahain natin sa araw na ito. Nais natin na tanggalan ng kapasidad na makapanloko at makapanakit ang mga masasamang loob gamit ang ating mga cellular phones.

Napakaganda ng ating mga cellphones, ito ang nagkokonekta sa ating lahat, lalo as ating mga mahal sa buhay na malayo sa ating piling. Sino ang mag-aakala na ang maliit na bagay na ito na kasyang kasya sa ating palad ay makapagbibigay sa atin ng ligaya? Ngunit ang kaparehong cellphone rin na ito, kapag mapasakamay naman ng mga kriminal, ay magdudulot ng kasawian at pighati.

The first paragraph of Section 4 of the proposed SIM Registration Act captures the principal objectives of the bill, and I quote, "In order to deter the proliferation of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) or electronic communication-aided crimes, such as, but not limited to: terrorism, text scams, unsolicited, indecent or obscene messages, bank fraud, and massive disinformation, all Public Telecommunications Entity shall require the registration of SIM as pre-requisite to the activation thereof."

The aforementioned objective of the proposed bill to prevent terrorism activities is anchored on the data from the Philippine National Police. From January 2019 to February 2021, there have been fourteen improvised explosives devices (IED) bombing incidents that used cellphone as switching or triggering mechanism according to the PNP's Philippine Bomb Data Center. With the fourteen bombing incidents, thirty-nine Filipinos have lost their lives while two hundred six Filipinos have been injured. To others, these may sound like random numbers. But I want to tell you that these are not mere statistics. They are people--a parent to a child; a son or a daughter; a brother or a sister.

Marami pong nasasawi at binabawian ng buhay dahil sa mga masasamang loob na ginagamit ang mga cellphone upang makapaghasik ng terorismo. Ngunit higit na marami marahila ang nawawalan naman ng kabuhayan dahil sa mga text scams gamit ang mga hindi rehistradong mga SIM cards. Dalawang magkaibang sirkumstanya, pero parehong nakamamatay.

Despite the efforts of the government and telecommunications companies, text scam continues to surge. In June this year, PLDT reportedly blocked over 23 million text messages that shown signs of scam threat while also blocking 78,000 SIM cards. For its part, the Globe Telecom reportedly block almost a billion malicious text messages last year. Sa gitna ng kaliwa't kanan na pag-block ng ating mga telecom campany, hanggang sa ngayon, wala tayong makasuhan sa mga nagtangkang mangscam sa ating mga kababayan. Hanggang ngayon, hindi natin matukoy ang mga mukha sa likod ng mga text scam na ito.

Habang pinapaigting ng ating gobyerno ang kanilang aksyon para masugpo ang mga panloloko, tila mas nagiging "sophisticated" ang kanilang mga modus. Kaya naman kahit mismong ang ating mga financial institutions ay hirap kung paano sila mahahabol. In the submitted position paper last Congress of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, it stated that the proposed SIM card registration act will, let me quote, "provide a relevant resource for law enforcement agencies in the Philippines in the verification of the digital identity of crime perpetrators that cloak on the anonymity of prepaid or unregistered SIM Cards. Several financial fraud schemes related to prepaid SIM card continue to emerge, as simple as receiving a text message requesting funds to sophisticated social engineering attacks that lead to identity theft or account takeover, which continue to challenge financial institutions in protecting the interest of their customers and the public." End of quote. I fully support and agree with the position of our central bank. Nagiging matapang ang mga masasamang loob na terorista at scammer dahil alam nilang mahihirapan ang ating mga law enforcement agencies para matukoy ang kanilang identity.

Mr. President, dear colleagues, the proposed SIM card registration will not equate to complete eradication of crimes. However, this will serve as a tool for our law enforcement agencies to solve crimes and at the same time, a deterrent.

Lagyan nating ng mukha at pangalanan ang mga mamamatay tao at mga manloloko. No more unknown callers. No more scams. Hindi na sila makapagtatago sa likod ng kanilang mga cellphones. Gamitin natin ang teknolohiya upang matukoy ang mga kriminal!

Let us help our law enforcement agents to fulfill their duties in maintaining peace and order in our community. Let us make our people safe in the physical and cyber world. Once again, let us pass the SIM card registration Act.

Thank you, Mr. President.