It's the joint responsibility of telecommunication companies (telcos) and the Department of Information and Communication Technology's (DICT) to carry out an information drive on SIM (subscriber identity module) card registration, not that of local government units (LGUs).
Leyte 2nd district Rep. Richard Gomez had this to say Tuesday, Dec. 20 with the impending implementation of Republic Act (RA) No. 11934 or the SIM Registration Act.
Gomez, a former two-term mayor of Ormoc City, took issue with the Department of Interior and Local Government's (DILG) supposed tasking of LGUs to carry out such information dissemination campaign.
"It is the responsibility of the DICT and the to implement the registration of SIM cards, including informing the public the why's and the do's. Why give the burden of letting the public know about the pros and cons of the measures, and the registration methods, to the LGUs when these already have so much task at hand?" Gomez asked.
“The telcos should not burden the LGUs since they are the ones which earn hundreds of millions of pesos a day from mobile phone users, they are much richer than most LGUs. They should take care of their own business and their own problems because their profit are all theirs to keep and enjoy,” reasoned Gomez.
The DILG on Monday said LGUs are responsible for letting their constituents know about the need to register SIM cards and where they can avail of the registration services.
But the LGUs, the lawmaker said, already have a lot on their plates especially amid the continued threat of Covid-19, the onslaught of natural calamities such as typhoons and earthquakes, and implementing local peace and order policies as the country celebrates the holidays under a less restrictive mobility policy.
He added that telecommunication firms can easily tap their distributors and thousands of retail stores to do the registration where they sell their SIM cards.
"Ang SIM card registration po ay trabaho ng DICT at ng telcos. Hayaan na po nating sila ang gumawa ng kanilang trabaho (SIM card registration is the job of the DICT and the telcos. Let's have them do their job)," Gomez said.