Invoking freedom of speech, rights against unreasonable searches and seizures, and privacy of communication, various groups asked the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday, April 17, to declare unconstitutional the SIM (subscriber identity module) registration law. They pleaded the SC to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) that would stop the government immediately from enforcing the SIM Registration Act under Republic Act No. 11934. They told the SC of the urgency of stopping the enforcement of RA 11934 since holders and owners of more than 106 million of still  unregistered SIMs stand to be disenfranchised through automatic deactivation of their SIMs if they fail to comply with the April 26 deadline. RA 11934 became a law on Oct. 10, 2022 and was enforced starting Oct. 28, 2022. The law mandates mobile device users to register their SIMs whether prepaid or postpaid. The petitioners are the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, journalist Ronalyn V. Olea, Lumad leader and former Bayan Muna Party List representative Eufemia C. Cullamat, BAYAN Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr., Llorre Benidicto Pasco, Dean Matthias Razi Timtiman Alea, Maded Batara III of Junk SIM Registration Network, fisherfolk leader Alberto Roldan of PAMALAKAYA, peasant leader Danilo Hernandez Ramos of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, and lawyer Michael Christopher de Castro. They pleaded the SC to order public telecommunication entities (PTEs) to cease and desist from using, storing, transferring, and processing all information gathered into the SIM register and to destroy data already gathered. They said that RA 11934 violates their right to freedom of speech by imposing a system of prior restraint; right against unreasonable searches and seizures and to privacy of communication by intruding into the petitioners’ reasonable expectation of privacy and circumventing the requirement of a judicial warrant; and substantive due process by intruding into the life, liberty, and property of petitioners. “Given the nature of cell phones and devices connected to the internet, the SIM Registration Act partakes in the nature of prior restraint. On its face, the law chills all speech done through SIM if disclosure is not made,” they also said. “By imposing a condition to speech expressed through the modern-day equivalent of the printing press, the SIM Registration Act imposes prior restraint,” they added. As of April 7, 2023, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) estimated that 168,977,773 SIMs are currently in use in the country. The petitioners claimed that only about 62.17 million have so far been registered. Of that figure, only about 62,170,268 or 36.79 percent have so far registered under the SIM Registration Act. Thus, if not registered by April 26, more than 106 million SIMs will be deactivated. The petitioners said the deactivation of the more than 106 million SIMS will affect the government dissemination of public service announcements and that ordinary citizens will not be able to capture, share, and discuss the misbehavior of their public servants, which is vital in a democratic country. Also, they said that Filipinos with unregistered SIMS will be deprived of essential online services such as digital banking, online shopping, and transportation to courier services. “Unregistered Filipinos will not be able to use internet services, websites, and social media platforms that require phone numbers as a mode of receiving one-time passwords (OTPs) to secure or recover user accounts,” they stressed. The SC is now holding its traditional sessions in Baguio City.  It was not known as of posting when the petition will be tackled in session.