Poe frowns on suspending SIM registration

MANILA, Philippines — No way should the mandated SIM card registration be suspended just because of glitches that enabled fake ID cards to slip past its system, Sen. Grace Poe said yesterday as she urged telecommunication firms to make sure they do their part well in implementing the law.

She was reacting to reports that the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) was able to register an ID with Bart Simpson as the picture for a SIM card registration.

The National Bureau of Investigation had also demonstrated before the Senate public services committee that a SIM card was able to get registered using an image of a monkey in the ID picture.

In an interview yesterday with GMA News, PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said the SIM card registration should be suspended due to these glitches.

But Poe, who authored the SIM card registration law, said the problem is not in the law, but in enforcement.

She said the SIM card registration should continue but telcos should do a better job in verifying the identification of registrants to prevent the use of SIM cards by scammers.

“The law has enough teeth against fraudsters as well as safeguards to the privacy of our people. Concerned agencies and telcos must be able to plug the loopholes in their effective implementation without halting registration,” Poe said. “Backing down against scammers is not an option.”