The Senate Committee on Public Services will start an inquiry into the spate of text scams on Thursday, September 8, Sen. Grace Poe said on Monday.
“We will have a hearing to tackle the proliferation of text scams and more importantly to deliberate on the SIM registration Act,” Poe said in a text message to reporters.
Poe, who chairs the public services panel, said there is a need to work double time in having a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) Registration law to curb text scams that still run rampant and have become more advanced in intruding into personal data.
She said her panel will lead fresh discussions on Wednesday to have a common measure for approval in November.
The SIM Card Registration bill, she noted, is one of the priorities of the Senate. this 19th Congress.
“Nag-hearing na kami d'yan noon, marami na kaming nakalap na impormasyon at kaisipan tungkol dyan. Kung matatapos natin ang hearing sa Wednesday, technical working group na lang sa susunod na linggo, tapos baka pwede na natin ma-plenaryo (We have already conducted a hearing on this and we have pooled all information and insights regarding the bill. If we can finish the hearing on Wednesday, we can have the technical working group ready next week, then we can go on to plenary),” she said in a radio interview.
“Hopefully, ito ay mapasa by November. Ito ang nakikita nating timeline kasi hihintayin pa rin natin ang bersyon ng House (we can pass this by November. We set this timeline because we have to wait for the version of the House of Representatives),” she added.
She also said the panel will tackle the mounting complaints of text scams during the hearing.
Sen. Nancy Binay, for her part, said she too will file a resolution urging the Senate to probe the upsurge of text scams, smishing, text spams, and other malicious solicitations and unwanted text messages, saying she too got shocked when she received a random SMS with her name on it.
Binay said she was shocked because she never used her personal phone in online transactions.
“Grabe. ibang level na dahil sobrang entrenched na ang ganitong cybercrime groups sa mga data na (it’s a different level because these groups are too entrenched on data that are) supposedly secured, private and confidential,” Binay said.
Binay warned such modus could extend to “something bigger and more sophisticated scheme.”
“Nakakatakot na (It’s already scary),” she said, adding that she plans to inquire on the concrete solutions being undertaken by responsible government agencies to restrict such activities.
“The unabated digital scams will erode the trustworthiness of electronic commerce and may reverse our shift to a digital economy. It is the right of our people to have safe digital ecosystem and it is the duty of the government to provide and secure such an environment,” she said.