Globe Telecom Inc. said it remains committed to the implementation of the SIM Registration Act or Republic Act 11934 amid calls for stricter enforcement from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC).
PAOCC called on telcos for the stricter implementation of the SIM Registration Act after discovering “pre-registered” SIM cards being sold through social media channels.
Globe general counsel Froilan Castelo said there should be an official ID database from which telcos could verify the identity of registrants such as the National ID, Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System and the likes.
“Currently, Globe has been strictly implementing the provisions of the SIM Registration Act, including accepting only the required identification cards, investing in software to help in reading the text on identification cards and facial recognition to ensure these are real people,” Castelo said.
“However, there is no way for us to determine with 100-percent certainty if the identity is fake without a database from which we can validate the identity,” he said.
Globe said it has been proactively asking for access to an official ID database from the government since 2023 to strengthen the current verification process.
Since December 2023, Globe said it has upgraded its SIM registration platform, with Optical Character Recognition and data-matching capabilities, along with a mandatory selfie requirement to weed out fraudulent submissions.
“However, there are still criminals who are able to bypass this by using someone’s identity and then selling these registered SIM cards to scammers,” Castelo said.
Selling or purchasing registered SIMs is illegal. Section 11 of the SIM Registration Act imposes penalties, including imprisonment of six months to six years and/or fines ranging from P100,000 to P300,000.
Globe reminds customers to register only their own SIMs under their names, with the exception of SIMs used by their minor children or other underaged SIM users under their care.
It also asked the public to never accept offers to register SIMs on behalf of others in exchange for cash, as their identities may be used for scams that may result in the filing of other criminal cases against them.