EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
S E N A T E
Senate Bill No.
109
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*19 
JUL-1 
P5:45
Introduced by Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri
R F J
AN ACT
REQUIRING THE REGISTRATION OF
SUBSCRIBER IDENTITY MODULE (SIM ) CARDS IN MOBILE PHONES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
This increasingly technological age has radically transformed our methods of 
communication—from letters, we moved to phone calls and fax messages, and 
now we have come to depend on the immediacy and practicality of e-mails, text 
messages, app-assisted instant messages, video conferences, and the like. With 
a click, we can begin real-time conversation with people across great distances— 
across oceans, even. With a click, we can easily send documents that would 
otherwise have translated to reams and reams of paper to send out through the 
postal service. With a click, we can send a single message to hundreds, if not 
thousands, of people at once.
With this ease, of course, comes a myriad opportunities for exploitation. 
Consider the power of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Cards. These cards not 
only enable text messaging and calls, but also make Internet access possible for 
smartphone users. The corresponding mobile numbers issued along with these 
SIM Cards are also used for social media registration. With just one unregistered 
SIM Card, then, comes a whole host of digital avenues for scams and other such 
illegal activities. Indeed there is a growing industry of social media bot farms in 
the Philippines, wherein companies buy up thousands of SIM Cards to aid in the 
creation of fake social media profiles.
The 
near 
instantaneous 
dissemination 
of 
information 
through 
our 
smartphones and SIM-based WiFi connection has opened new avenues to speed 
up business, access to government services such as SIM-based cash transfers, 
banking and emergency services on top of enhanced experience in our personal 
communication. This technological revolution now at the 5G realm has brought 
dreams of the Internet of things a reality. However, the benefits came with 
downsides. Technology is amoral; it can be used for the common good as well as 
for committing crimes by an individual or syndicates.1
That is why State actors such as government financial institutions, social 
service institutions, the police and military are eager to regulate access to SIMs 
through a SIM Card Registration Law. The rise in terrorist attacks through
1 https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/04/10/pdea-warns-public-against-mobile-phone-scammers/ (Accessed June 26, 
2019)


cellphone-triggered bombs or improvised explosive devices2 has strengthened 
the push to regulate the access to SIMs.
This bill seeks to regulate access to SIMs with due consideration to the 
individual right to privacy3 recognized in the United Nations Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948 and International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights (ICCPR) 1966, to which we the Philippines is one of the signatories.
Thus, we provide for checks and balances and will support in-depth 
discussion on strengthening the role of the Court to protect the right to privacy 
and confidentiality, as well as to reduce the burden on sellers of SIMs.
In our race to find the next breakthrough in communications technology, 
there has been little time to pause and evaluate the attendant dangers of making 
these technologies easily accessible, with little to no regulation. It is time now to 
correct our course and set necessary limits to SIM Card availability by imposing a 
SIM Card registration system, thereby protecting our people from malicious 
entities looking to prey on vulnerable users.
In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is urgently sought.
N MIGUEL F. ZUBIRI
https://news.abs-cbn.eom/news/01/30/19/airstrikes-in-sulu-as-tToops-mount-all-out-war-vs-abu-sawaf (Accessed
June 26, 2019)
3 https://privacyintemational.org/explainer/56/what-privacy (Accessed June 26, 2019)


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
S E N A T E
Senate Bill No. 
10.9
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'19 
P5:45
Introduced by Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri
AN ACT
REQUIRING THE REGISTRATION OF SUBSCRIBER IDENTITY MODULE (SIM )
CARDS IN MOBILE PHONES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House o f Representatives o f the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:
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SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known and cited as the "SIM Card 
Registration Act."
SEC. 2. Policy. - It is the policy of the State to regulate the ownership and use of 
SIM Cards for legitimate purposes only to maintain peace and order, promote the 
general welfare, and protect the public.
SEC. 3. Definitions. - For purposes of this Act,
(1) "SIM Card" refers to the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card in a 
mobile phone.
(2) "Mobile Phone Company" refers to any mobile telecommunication 
service provider, including but not limited to Globe and Smart PLOT.
(3) "NTC" refers to the National Telecommunications Commission.
SEC. 4. SIM Card Registration. - Every mobile phone company shall be required 
to register its subscribers, both prepaid and postpaid, and maintain a directory thereof, 
indicating therein the SIM Card serial number, mobile phone number, name, and 
address of the subscriber.


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Any change in the information required in the SIM Card Registration must be 
registered with the mobile phone company within fifteen (15) days from the occurrence 
of such change.
SEC. 5. Data Privacy and Confidentiality. - Personal information in SIM Card 
Registration shall be treated as private and confidential, unless otherwise specified by 
the subscriber. It shall not be inquired or looked into, except upon probable cause to be 
determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the 
complainant and the witnesses, if any.
SEC. 6. Sale o f SIM Cards. - Every seller shall require his or her buyer of a SIM 
Card to present valid identification with picture to ascertain the identity of the buyer. 
The seller shall further require the buyer to accomplish a registration form issued by the 
mobile phone company of the SIM Card being purchased.
For this purpose, mobile phone companies shall issue SIM Card registration 
forms. The seller shall then promptly submit the accomplished registration form to the 
concerned mobile phone company not later than fifteen (15) days from the date of sale. 
Data privacy and confidentiality in the SIM Card registration in Section 5 shall start to 
apply at the point of sale.
A buyer who does not produce valid identification with picture and accomplish a 
SIM Card registration form shall, in accordance with the preceding paragraph, be 
refused the sale of a SIM Card by the seller.
SEC. 7. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The NTC shall issue rules and 
regulations to implement the provisions of this Act within sixty (60) days from the 
effectivity of this Act.
SEC. 8. Penalty Clause. - Any violation of the provisions of this Act shall be 
punished with a fine ranging from Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000.00) to Fifty Thousand 
Pesos (P50,000.00).
SEC. 9. Transitory Provision. - All existing subscribers who have no SIM Card 
registration yet are required to register their SIM Cards with their respective mobile 
phone companies within three (3) months from the effectivity of this Act.


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Failure to register within the prescribed period shall result in the deactivation of 
the SIM Card. The deactivated SIM Card may only be reactivated after registration in 
accordance with this Act.
SEC. 10. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or 
other issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby 
repealed or modified accordingly.
SEC. 11. Separability Clause. - If any portion or provision of this Act is declared 
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act or any provision not affected thereby shall 
remain in force and effect.
SEC. 12. Effectlvity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following the 
completion of its publication either in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general 
circulation in the Philippines.
Approved,