House Speaker Martin Romualdez on Monday, Oct. 10, praised President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for signing into law the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act, which he described as a way to protect consumers from cybercriminals and online scammers.
The Act is the first law signed by the present administration.
“On behalf of members of the House of Representatives, we would like to convey our heartfelt gratitude to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for signing into law the SIM Registration Act or Republic Act (RA) No. 11934, the very first bill signed into law by this administration,” the Leyte lawmaker said in a statement.
“The SIM Registration Act is a great first step toward the protection of the privacy of Filipinos that is currently vulnerable to intrusion from unscrupulous individuals who are using personal data to either misrepresent, scam or defraud consumers,” he added.
The Speaker led a contingent from the House of Representatives that witnessed the President signing into law the SIM Registration Act in Malacañang.
The lawmakers who were in attendance were Majority Leader Manuel Jose "Mannix" M. Dalipe, Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan, House Senior Deputy Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander "Sandro" Marcos, and Reps. Chino Almario, Toby Tiangco, Jude Acidre, Rex Gatchalian, Roman Romulo and Stella Luz Quimbo.
READ: Marcos signs into law SIM Registration Act
Romualdez shared how the measure was “exhaustively discussed” during the 18th Congress where he served as Majority Leader, but it was vetoed by the previous administration “because of the inclusion of a provision calling for the mandatory registration of social media accounts.”
This provision, he said, was removed from the current version of the law.
“This measure was approved in both the House and in the Senate, and President Marcos' signature on this very important piece of legislation only signifies his administration’s recognition of the need to put in place measures that will protect Filipino consumers against cybercriminals and online scammers,” Romualdez stated.
“We are happy that we now have a law in place that will establish the system of registration to secure digital transactions, reduce fraud and address acts of criminal syndicates utilizing the SIM,” Gatchalian said.
The Chief Executive’s signature on this law meant his “recognition” of its merits.
The SIM Registration Act was authored by Romualdez, together with Reps. Marcos, Yedda Marie K. Romualdez and Jude Acidre of Tingog Party-list.
The law would require the registration of all prepaid and postpaid mobile phone SIM cards to help deter phone-aided criminal activities.