By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

THE MARCOS administration is considering to study and refine laws requiring Filipinos to register their Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards and banning Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) after reports of alleged Chinese espionage and kidnapping, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said on Thursday.

“We have been saying that there are indeed loopholes in the said (SIM card registration) law,” PCO Undersecretary Claire A. Castro told a news briefing at the Palace.

“The registration can be done online, and this has caused problems because the registration process is not properly managed, and people, even monkeys, can register. This is really a violation of our law. But it is better to discuss how to fix this law.”

She floated the idea that the SIM registration could instead be done in person to reduce the risk of scammers taking advantage of the system.

This comes after the National Bureau of Investigation arrested two alleged Chinese spies and three Filipinos accused of spying on the Malacañan Palace and the Philippine Coast Guard amid Manila’s tensions with Beijing in the South China Sea.

The SIM Registration Law, enacted in October 2022, requires mobile phone users to register their SIMs under their names or risk deactivation in a bid to deter text scams and other criminal activities done through mobile phones.

“We can manage to register SIM cards properly to avoid these kinds of scams where anyone can buy a SIM card; people pay for it, buy it from others, and sell their identity. It will be difficult to suppress crime if that happens.”

Ms. Castro also said the Palace would coordinate with other government agencies to go after POGO firms that continue to operate without a license.

“We will coordinate with our agencies that should pursue if there are still POGOs operating without a license. You can expect swift action on this,” she said. “We will further study what else needs to be done.”

Last year, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed an executive order, banning POGOs due to their links to organized crime, such as human trafficking. This is in line with his policy directives during his third State of the Nation Address to shut down POGOs by the end of 2024.

Senator Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros earlier sponsored a committee report before plenary that seeks to outlaw POGOs and raised alarm on public officials being involved in facilitating crimes linked to these outfits.

“Aside from the actions of the Palace and the government, we will also strive to improve the law regarding this because, as of now, the law on SIM card registration is one reason why these kinds of text scams still occur,” the PCO official said. “This law needs to be reviewed again to make it effective.”

Based on 2023 government data, “smishing scams,” or schemes that involve text messages impersonating legitimate financial institutions to trick recipients into providing sensitive financial information such as account numbers and passwords, have cost the state approximately P460 billion in losses.

Last year, the President signed into a law a bill that imposed tougher penalties on those using financial accounts to commit crimes.

Ronald B. Gustilo, national campaigner for Digital Pinoys, said an in-person SIM registration system would just be another inconvenience for Filipinos especially for those in remote areas or with limited mobility, adding the state should focus on boosting verification measures.

“Instead of burdening ordinary users, authorities should target the organized groups behind identity theft and scams, including those linked to POGOs,” he said in a Viber message.

“Rather than making SIM registration an inconvenience, the government should enhance verification technology, enforce stricter compliance among telcos, and crack down on the real perpetrators of cyberfraud.”