Senator Grace Poe made an appeal after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said that it uncovered a successfully activated SIM card through a fake government ID using a photo of a monkey, prompting her to encourage the government to implement a ‘live selfie’ requirement in the process of registration.

According to Poe, despite the imposed SIM Registration Law, scammers continue to engage in such phishing actions, pointing out the fake government IDs that can get through the telco’s system.

"Kahit nandyan na ang SIM Registration Law, hindi nawala ang scammers. Kaya pakiusap ko na isama na ang live selfie sa requirement ng registration," she said.

"Ang batas ay ginawa para mas pangalagaan ang ating mga kababayan laban sa mga manloloko," she added.

On the other hand, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center Undersecretary Alexander Ramos said that the public has experienced difficulties while registering online.

"Meron tayong mga standard security measures. Sa sobrang higpit nito, hindi na nakaka-connect at nahihirapan sila," he said in an interview with DZRH’s Dos Por Dos.

"There was a clamor na padaliin. Maraming humiling na pwede bang i-ease up ang system ng pagrehistro para ma-meet ang deadline ng pagrehistro," he continued.

Ramos said that the artificial intelligence (AI) was trained to verify that if the ID presented matches the selfie, it can easily be registered.

Poe, the law's creator and supporter, stated that she wants the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to develop a strengthened IRR that will be more successful in combating scammers.

She emphasized that IRR must safeguard users from privacy abuses and that telcos must closely track down individuals and groups that try to skirt the law and continue their illicit actions.