Malacanang announced last Friday that President Rodrigo Duterte has vetoed the SIM Registration Bill, which would have mandated the registration of prepaid SIM Cards for electronic devices and social media accounts.
The bill was passed by Congress and the Senate last February and needed only the approval of the president for it to become law.
According to Martin Andanar, the acting presidential spokesperson, the President vetoed the bill because he was concerned with the provision that required the registration of social media accounts, believing it may lead to “dangerous state intrusion and surveillance, threatening many constitutionally protected rights.” The President also wanted a “more thorough study” on the matter.
The bill can still be passed into law if two-thirds of Congress (203 out of 304) and the Senate (16 out of 23 senators) override the President’s veto.
The law aims to aid authorities to track and dissuade the use of prepaid and postpaid SIM cards from criminal and fraudulent activities, as well as curb online trolling and disinformation from anonymous social media accounts that seem to proliferate in our country.
The country’s top three telcos, Smart, Globe, and DITO, all support the bill, believing it will lessen the use of mobile phones in scams and other fraudulent activities.
Source: Inquirer
