AS the 90-day extension starts today, April 27, the National Telecommunications Commission - Davao Region (NTC-Davao) expects more relaxed requirements for those who want to register their SIM cards.
“Usa ni sa gina-istoryahan [sa Department Of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), NTC regional office, telecommunication offices, and other offices]... sa 90-day period basin i-relax nato ang requirement sa ID (One of the plans being discussed during the 90-day period is to relax the ID requirement needed for SIM registration),” Nelson Cañete, NTC-Davao regional director, said during Wednesday’s Habi at Kape, April 26.
Cañete said the identification card (ID) requirement will possibly be relaxed to accommodate more SIM card users, especially from far-flung areas.
Cañete added they might instead consider cedula or barangay certification to prove the user’s identification, besides the government and work IDs.
However, Cañete said they are still waiting for the DICT and NTC’s signal if the current implementing rules and regulations (IRR)’s will be changed or not.
“Kung dili to usbon [current IRR], siguro kung wala kay ID maglukat ta og mga clearances (If the IRR will not change and there is no ID available, we will urge them to secure clearances) because there are two clearances na pwede natong dawaton (we can accept), either police clearance or NBI clearance,” Canete said.
In their remote SIM card registrations alone, NTC-Davao has accommodated around 20,000 SIM users in Davao Region from the first week of January to April 25, mostly senior citizens.
“Although dili nato na makuha diha-diha dayon pero naa tay 90-day period na ma-comply nato na siya na identification (It might take time but we have 90-day period to comply these identification requirements),” Canete added.
For Cañete, the 90-day extension to reach the NTC’s target of registering more SIM cards in the country “might be too much”.
“Pero kung moingon ka og paigo na [ang 90-day registration], dili pod ka makaingon na paigo na kay para nako murag sobra na, para nako personal (But if you say the extension will reach our SIM card registration target, I think the extension is too much),” Canete said.
“But under the provision of the law under SIM card registration, nag ingon didto na ang DICT, NTC may extend the period of registration for up to 120 days,” Cañete added.