AN official from the National Telecommunications Commission Davao Region (NTC-Davao) urged everyone to register their SIM cards before the April 26-deadline to avoid further consequences.
“Padayon gihapon kong manawagan na i-register nato atong mga SIM card... para dili ta ma-deactivate (We continue to remind everyone to register their SIM cards to avoid it from getting deactivated),” NTC-Davao regional director Nelson Cañete said during the Habi at Kape Media Forum on Wednesday, February 1, 2022.
“It’s not a violation of any law, but there are consequences,” he added.
Cañete said that unregistered SIM cards after the deadline will be unusable for texts, calls, and Internet usage. Loads stored in SIM cards beyond the registration deadline will also be forfeited.
Meanwhile, he added that they are targeting around 168,000,000 registered SIM cards by the deadline. As of January 30, a total of 27,349,056 have been registered, which is around 16.19 percent of the target.
From the registered SIM cards, 20 percent of around 67 million Smart subscribers had been registered, 16.58 percent of their 13 million Dito users were registered, while 12.7 percent of around 87 million Globe users were already registered.
“Wala na mi naghuna-huna anang target, ang amoa lang nga unta walay Pilipino na gusto magparehistro og SIM card ang dili makaparehistro for some reasons (We are not only thinking about the targets, we also do not want to see individuals who want to register their SIM but can't for some reasons),” he said.
Cañete said the NTC had set up "touch centers" in every city or municipality for those who want to be assisted with SIM registration.
He also said the NTC offers SIM registration for remote areas. This week, NTC will be at Laak Municipal Gymnasium in Laak, Davao de Oro today, and Mata's Gym in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur tomorrow, February 3.
However, Cañete said that people must be careful in sharing their personal data during their SIM registration process.
“Magpahibalo mi daan na ayaw ninyog isalig ang inyong data sa mga taong mo-assist ninyo na dili ninyo kaila kay basig gamiton na inyong data sa dili maayo (We advise everyone to not entrust your data to strangers who would want to help you, because some could use it to do bad things),” Cañete said.
He also said that those SIM cards that were made and sold starting December 27, 2022 are deactivated. These cannot be used immediately until they are registered through their respective telecommunication service provider’s official registration websites. After website registration, it will take at most 24 hours for the service provider to activate them. ICE