JV Ejercito backs bill on mandatory SIM registration
September 13, 2022
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Tuesday
expressed his support for the passage of Senate Bill No. 1310, which seeks to
require the registration of all postpaid and prepaid subscriber identity module
(SIM) cards.
Ejercito, who co-sponsored the bill as vice
chair of the Senate Committee on Public Services, said the SIM Registration
Bill offers both an “immediate” and “long-term” solution to electronic
communication-aided criminal activities, which are mostly characterized by
security and privacy breaches.
“The surge of text scams or “smishing” is an
affront to the integrity of our private communication and privacy. What’s more
alarming is that this developed during a time when we are at our most
vulnerable. The opportunists seemed to have taken advantage of this, especially
when the government’s attention was focused on attending to COVID-19 response,”
he said in his co-sponsorship speech.
“It was purposely done during a time when our
people are jobless, hungry, and about to lose hope. It is such an evil and
unforgivable act. Instead of helping our fellow countrymen recover
economically, these scammers prey on them and take away what little money they
have,” he added.
The lawmaker from San Juan cited a recent
report from Globe Telecommunications, stating that it was able to block a total
of 1.15 billion smishing messages, around 7,000 mobile numbers linked to
scammers, and about 2,000 social media accounts and phishing sites in 2021.
For their part, PLDT and Smart Communications
were able to block around 78,000 SIM-related smishing from January to May 2022.
Ejercito also noted that several public
officials, including himself, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, other
members of the Senate, and even President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., have
recently received smishing messages.
“Nobody is safe and exempted from these
illegal activities. If our Senate President and even our President were not
spared from this evil deed, what more are our most vulnerable people in the
society?” he said.
While recognizing the efforts of law enforcers
to detect these criminal activities, Ejercito said the government should be “at
the forefront” of cracking down on text scammers.
“In conversation like this, the government should be
at the forefront. We should be able to say to our constituents that we are on
top of the situation. However, until now, there is no clear action and solution
from the concerned agencies,” he said.
