Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 26) — The government needs around 22 million SIM users to register during the 90-day extension of the mandatory SIM registration to be able to meet its target of 110 million.
Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source on Wednesday, NTC Deputy Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan said 87.4 million SIM cards were already registered based on the government’s latest data.
He noted authorities hope to list up to 110 million of the 168 million active SIM in the country as the adjusted July deadline approaches.
“We foresee that it is only around that number, which is around 100 or 110 million, which are the legitimate users of these SIMs or meaning that they are really using the SIMs for their ordinary or legitimate purposes,” he explained.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved the 90-day extension of the SIM registration, which was supposed to end on April 26, after authorities logged low turnout.
Salvahan said some areas in Visayas and the Bangsamoro region are among those with low registrations.
Information and Communications Technology Sec. Ivan John Uy blamed the bad habit of Filipinos of doing things at the last minute for the low turnout during the initial months of the registration period.
According to Salvahan, this was evident during the last two days prior to the April 26 deadline when daily registrations reached 2.5 million to 4.5 million from around a hundred thousand prior.
While the SIM Registration Act allows an extension of up to 120 days, Uy said 90 days are “more than reasonable” to give SIM users enough time to list their numbers.
As a remedy to the problem, Salvahan said the NTC is coordinating with telecommunications companies in looking into the proposal of deactivating access to several mobile phone applications and services of SIM cards that remain unregistered during the 90-day reprieve.
