Receiving scam messages daily is more inconvenient than having to register your SIM card to telcos.
This was what presidential son Rep. Ferdinand Alexander "Sandro" Marcos said as he justified the signing of the Republic Act No. 11934, or the SIM Registration Act, into law by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Monday, Oct. 10.
The younger Marcos is among the sponsors of the House version of the bill.
"I think it is more of an inconvenience getting those messages on a daily basis. I think if you weigh those two up and you have to understand also that these regulations and these rules are something that are apparently (already in force) in other countries already so this is nothing new," he said when sought for comment on concerns that the new law would only cause inconvenience to consumers.
The lawmaker also said he hopes that the "desired effect" of the law will be "a big help" to Filipinos as it aims to curb scams through text messages.
"I think the most obvious thing that people will feel is hopefully mawawala na yung mga scam text na nakukuha natin (it will stop the scam texts we are getting) like I said before medyo nakakatakot kasi pati ngayon e dinagdag din ang mga pangalan ng mga tao (it's concerning because they are now adding the names of people)," he said.
"So, hopefully this will curb the increase and the frequency of all those text that we've been getting and it will be a welcome addition to the security of our kababayans' personal information. With the passage of this law, we will be better protected," he added.
Under the SIM Card Registration Act, every public telecommunication entity or direct seller shall be required to demand end users of SIM cards present a valid identification document to validate their identities.
The President said that public telecommunications entities (PTEs) can only disclose the information contained in the SIM card, upon a duly issued subpoena or order of a court upon a finding of probable cause.
The SIM Registration Act is the first law the President signed since he assumed the presidency.