The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) reminded the public that Republic Act No. 11934 prohibits the sale of registered SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards.
Under RA 11934, also known as the SIM Registration Act, any person who sells or transfers a registered SIM, wihout complying with the registration requirements, faces imprisonment of up to six years, and a fine as high as Php 300,000.
The reminder came from DICT Asec. Aboy Paraiso, who identified the illegal sale of SIM cards as among the reasons for the continuous proliferation of scam text messages.
Paraiso also said that scammers have been using alternate communications service platforms, like Viber and Facebook Messenger, to continue their criminal activities.
"Halimbawa, naputolan kayo ng service dahil hindi niyo na-register, wala na yung number pero nandoon pa rin yung number ninyo sa Viber, sa Messenger," Paraiso said during DZRH's Dos Por Dos.
"As long as you have registered prior yung pagkaputol nung linya ninyo, tuloy-tuloy lang yung services ninyo," he added.
Paraiso mentioned that DICT does not have control over these mobile applications since the firms that operates and owns these platforms fall outside the jurisdiction of the Philippine government.
However, the DICT official said that the government could pass a law to ban these platforms from operating in the Philippines if they fail to address the problem of scam messages.
"It is an alternative for the Philippines na kung hindi sila susunod, we must consider yung ginagawa ng ibang bansa na i-block sila but, again, it requires an act of legislature," Paraiso stressed.
Paraiso said that the Philippine government entered a memorandum of agreement with Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and Threads), Google, and TikTok to adjust their community guidelines.
