“Based on the discussion po, hindi na po. That will be the final extension po, ‘yung 90-day period po na extension,” NTC Deputy Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan said, referring to the sectoral meeting led by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on updates regarding SIM registration on Monday, April 24, in Malacañang.
Marcos approved the 90-day extension for SIM registration during the meeting.
Under the SIM Registration Act, which was signed into law by Marcos in October 2022, the registration deadline could be extended to up to 120 days.
Salvahan reminded the subscribers that their SIM cards will automatically be deactivated, which means they will no longer be able to use it for any services either call or text and online transactions, if it will not be registered by July 26.
He said the 90 days is enough for subscribers and telecommunication companies to address concerns in SIM registration, such as lack of identification documents, knowledge and even illiteracy.
“Please do not wait for the deadline, because within the 90-day period po... we might consider some modifications in the effects of the SIM registration. So mas maganda po na ngayon, habang wala pa po ibang mga modifications na yan, or, shall we say, ‘yung tinatawag po na incentives, ay mai-register po ninyo yung SIM po ninyo (So it's better that while there are no other modifications, or, shall we say, the so-called incentives, you can register your SIM),” said Salvahan.
Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary John Ivan Uy earlier said he does not see any more reasons for the public not to register their SIMs in accordance with the law, noting that IDs issued by barangays are acceptable and telco companies have already upgraded their systems.
With the 90-day extension, the government expects that around 15 to 18 million more subscribers will register their SIM.
So far, over 87 million out of the 168 million active SIM cards in the country were registered.
A group of petitioners tried but failed to get the Supreme Court’s nod to declare the SIM Registration Act unconstitutional. (SunStar Philippines)
