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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider House gives final nod to SIM Card Registration Bill

House gives final nod to SIM Card Registration Bill

Published Sep 19, 2022 05:22 pm

With 250 affirmative votes, House Bill (HB) 14 or the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Bill was approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives on Monday, Sept. 19.

(Nordwood Themes/ Unsplash)

The measure was approved via nominal vote result of 250 "yes" votes, six "no" votes, and one abstention.

At first, independent minority solon Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman motioned to defer the voting until more “warm bodies” were present in the plenary. Deputy Speaker Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales presided over the session.

There are 311 representatives in the 19th Congress. In order to have a quorum in the plenary, at least 156 members must be present.

However, Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin explained that more than half of the House of Representatives were present at the time, if both physical and virtual attendance are considered.

Lagman eventually withdrew his motion to defer the approval on third reading the SIM Card Registration Bill, on the condition that a quorum on physical attendance would be observed Tuesday, Sept..20 for vote on the proposed postponement of the 2022 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. Garin then moved for the nominal voting of HB 14.

Under nominal voting, the individual votes of the lawmakers are counted for the approval of a measure.

Asked for a reaction on the passage of the bill, Speaker Martin Romualdez told House reporters, "We are happy that this measure is passed...this will ensure protection from text scams and similar concerns."

Three lawmakers manifested their “no” votes before the plenary, namely Makabayan solons Gabriela Women’s Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, ACT-Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel.

“Sa kalagayang hanggang sa ngayon, hindi pa tinutugunan at sinusolusyunan ng mga ahensya ang mga naganap na insidente ng data breaches, heto na naman tayo na inuutusan ang mamamayan na ipagkatiwala sa mga ahensya ang mga personal na impormasyon nila, kabilang ang sensitive personal information nila (Even in our situation now, government agencies have not yet addressed data breach incidents. Here we are again ordering our citizens to entrust their sensitive, personal information with the government),” Castro said in her “no” vote explanation.

She explained that the proliferation of “smishing” or online text scams, and the spread of misinformation as pretext for the passage of the SIM Card Registration Bill.

“Hindi dapat ipasa sa mamamayan ang onus upang labanan ang krimen, dahil ang responsibilidad na gawin ito ay nasa gubyerno at mga ahensya nito (The onus of fighting crime should not be passed to the citizens because the government and its agencies are responsible for this). Government agencies have their mandates with respect to text scams, phishing, other cybercrimes, and disinformation, and the only thing they have to do is to fulfill those mandates,” Castro said.

The measure was approved on second reading last Sept. 14. The leadership of both the House and the Senate have agreed to expedite the passage of the SIM Card Registration Bill before the House’s scheduled month-long recess starting Oct. 1.

READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2022/09/14/house-approves-sim-card-registration-bill-on-2nd-reading/

https://mb.com.ph/2022/09/09/congress-to-pass-bske-postponement-sim-card-registration-bill-before-recess/

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