At least 80 percent of Filipinos believe that the mandatory Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card registration will help reduce cybercrime cases in the Philippines according to a survey conducted by data research firm Tangere.

The mobile-based survey was conducted from Jan. 18 until Jan. 20, 2023 with a sample size of 2,400 respondents.

Based on the survey, two out of three Filipinos have already registered their SIM cards in compliance with the law. Three out of five respondents, on the other hand, “have not yet registered” their cards, believing that their personal information will be compromised under the government’s central database.

All data that will be given to public telecommunication entities (PTEs) will be treated as confidential, said the national government.

Why do we need to register our SIM?

Pursuant to Republic Act No. 11934, otherwise known as the SIM Registration Act, all new and existing subscribers in the Philippines are mandated to register their cards until April 26, 2023. All unregistered SIMs will be deactivated permanently.

The law, which was signed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., seeks to curb electronic communication-aided crimes like mobile phishing and text spams.

A month after the law took effect, several users continue to receive text spams, but Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Ivan John Uy, in a palace briefing, noted its “significant drop.”

“Before the law was signed, how many spam messages were you receiving everyday? I am sure all of you felt the significant drop. I used to receive about six or seven then, but now just one or two,” said Uy in Filipino.

Latest data from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) showed that a total of 25,917,464 SIM cards have already been registered as of Jan. 26. This equates to about 15.34 percent of the existing 168,977,773 units nationwide.