Senator Grace Poe on Tuesday, April 25, welcomed the decision of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to extend the period for registering Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards for 90 days. The deadline for SIM card registration is tomorrow, April 26. Poe, head of the Senate public services committee, explained that SIM Registration was meant to promote the responsible use of SIM and to halt the abuses of scammers and criminals. "It is not meant to punish legitimate SIM subscribers especially those at remote areas," she said. Poe recalled that during deliberations, lawmakers extensively considered the compliance of more than 168 million SIM subscribers, and have foreseen the need to incorporate an extension period to be able to accommodate all users. As of 18 April 2023, only about 74 million or 44.15 percent of SIMs have been registered. DICT's extension will avoid disruption of critical mobile services. Poe said telecommunications companies (telcos) must also mobilize and go down to the grassroots to reach out to more of their subscribers. As most telcos have been enjoying vast profits from their services, they have the corresponding obligation and the necessary resources to track down their SIM users and to widen the opportunity for registration, she pointed out. Poe stressed that both NTC and telcos must double their efforts in reaching out to subscribers in rural and remote areas. While a number of locations have been visited for remote registration, a lot more ground needs to be covered as key areas such as BARMM have yet to be reached according to the data by NTC, she explained. "It should be all hands on deck in expanding the reach of SIM Registration and in ensuring that no one gets left behind," she added, Poe also said DICT should, likewise, look into the continuing proliferation of spam messages despite the ongoing SIM Registration. Though with notable decrease in incidences, these scams and fraudulent messages still persist and victimize unsuspecting Filipinos, she pointed out. The lady lawmaker said the Department must look into how these syndicates are able to hijack the system and compromise Philippine communications. "DICT, NTC, and telcos must also disseminate the correct information on the law and help clarify the confusion surrounding it," she stressed. "It should be emphasized that SIMs will still be available in local retailers and sari-sari stores even past the SIM Registration deadline," she said. "Users will simply be required to register first before they can activate their new SIMs," she added.