Calling text scammers “white-collar criminals", Deputy Speaker and Batangas 6th district Rep. Ralph Recto has expressed support for a bill that would require Filipinos to register subscriber identity module (SIM) cards, underlining the need for telecommunication companies (telcos) to use the latest technology in detecting cybercrimes.

The veteran lawmaker emphasized that requiring SIM cards to be registered is not against freedom of speech, but rather it is a “war against scammers".

House Bill (HB) No. 14, or “An Act Requiring The Registration of Subscriber Identity Module Cards,” intends to “to make criminal ‘talk ‘n text’ traceable, remove the ease by which criminals can buy SIMs anonymously, and deny lawbreakers of virtual hiding places".

“This bill is one of the needed regulatory software updates. I fully support it. I congratulate the sponsors,” Recto said in the explanation of his "yes" vote to the measure, which was approved on third and final reading Monday afternoon, Sept. 19.

“This bill alone will not end text scams. On its own, it would not stop them, but it will step up our fight, without stepping on the freedoms of our people. This ought to be a war against scammers, not against speech,” he added as he congratulated the House leadership for prioritizing the measure.

Highlighting the need to upgrade the country’s cyber defense, the lawmaker furthered that criminals would find a way to get around the system as long as text messaging can be monetized “legitimately and illegitimately” through SMS spoofing, cultivation of SIM farms, or using grey routes to send SMS to people.

“Sinister elements will never stop concocting ways of pulling off information highway robberies. As they evolve, our ways of fighting them must, too. This is permanent warfare without logouts,” he said.

As SMS scams and crimes become sophisticated because of so-called grey routes, SIM farms, and SIM spoofing tools, Recto warned against underestimating the “enemy".

“‘Yung mga (The) text scammers should not be stereotyped as street thugs, the dirty contravidas lurking in some street corners, as portrayed in the celluloid world. Mga (Those are) white collar criminals po ang mga ‘yan,” he said.

He called for regulators to ensure that middlemen or aggregators could be trusted since these “have reportedly been given the direct keys to the Telco gateway to facilitate SMS blasting".

Recto also stressed the importance of strengthening laws, such as the Republic Act (RA) 10175, which established the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC).

But he lamented that the CICC is only composed of the Department of Information and Technology (DICT), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The lawmaker said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the AFP Cyber Command, the Department of Transportation (DOTr), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Privacy Commission (NPC) should also be well-represented in the CICC.

“Mabuti pa ang telcos (The telcos are better), interconnected; ang mga ito (these are) disjointed, operating within their own sandlots,” Recto said, adding that it is the reason that addressing the text scams has become a challenge for the government.