NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session 
)
Senate
of tl)r erftarp
*22 JUL-7 P2:11
SENATE
Senate Bill No.
82
Introduced by Senator Juan Miguel F. Zubiri
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. With 
a click, we can easily send documents that would otherwise have translated to 
reams and reams of paper. With a click, we can send and receive money and 
execute financial transactions without need of physically going to the bank. With 
a click, we can send a single message to a multitude 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.


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.
IGUEL F. ZUBIRI


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NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
F/rst Regular Session 
)
) Senate
*22 JUL-7 P2 :11
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 82
RECEIVED eV;
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 of Representatives of 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 Subscriber Identity Module (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 or similar gadgets;
(2) "Mobile Phone Company" refers to any mobile telecommunication 
service provider, including but not limited to Globe, Smart PLOT and 
Dito Tel.
(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


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thereof, indicating therein the SIM Card serial number, mobile phone number, name, and 
address of the subscriber.
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 of 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. Pena! 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).


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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.
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. Repeaiing Ciause. - 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. Separabiiity Ciause. - 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. Effectivity. - 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,