SC denies plea to stop SIM registration

The Supreme Court (SC) did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) which could have stopped the enforcement of Republic Act No. 11934 that mandates SIM (subscriber identity module) registration by all prepaid or postpaid holders. Instead, the SC – during its full court session in Baguio City on Tuesday, April 25 -- ordered several government agencies and private telecommunications companies to answer the petition that challenged the constitutionality of RA 11934. Also on April 25, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. approved the extension for 90 days of the April 26 deadline for SIM registration. The extension, which had earlier been announced by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, was the President’s response to the proposal of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for an extension of the SIM registration period. As of April 23, 2023, more than 82 million SIMs have been registered or 49.31 percent of total active SIMs as of December 2022.  There are currently 168,016,400 active SIMs in the Philippines. Government agencies ordered to answer the petition in 10 days from receipt of the SC resolution were the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the National Privacy Commission, the DICT, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Department of Education (DepEd). Also ordered to answer were Globe Telecom, Inc., Smart Communications, Inc., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), Dito Telecommunity Corporation, DIgitel Mobile Philippines, Inc., Sun Cellular and Cherry Mobile Communications, Inc. The petitioners in the case were 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 Benedicto 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. The petition invoked freedom of speech, rights against unreasonable searches and seizures, and privacy of communication in seeking to declare RA 11934 unconstitutional. 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 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. They also told the SC that the deactivation of unregistered 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.