Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr passed on Monday a law regulating the issuance of mobile phone SIM registration to combat text scams, bank fraud and misinformation. The new law will require subscribers to provide full names and identifying documents before purchasing a SIM card. Officials said the move is aimed at preventing criminals from concealing their identities.
Marcos’ predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, vetoed the legislation due to a currently scrapped provision requiring social media users to register their identities and phone numbers. However, existing prepaid users are compelled to register under the newly-passed law. Some telecom providers in the country welcome the new registration requirements, while others called for a comprehensive rollout of the national identification system to verify subscribers.
The information and communications ministry revealed that thousands of Filipinos have been victimized by phishing through text messaging services this year, but only a few have filed formal complaints.