STATEMENT OF DEMOCRACY.NET.PH ON THE VETO OF THE SIM CARD REGISTRATION BILL BY PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
On APRIL 15, 2015 – The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, said Thomas Jefferson so long ago. Today, we are reminded of this truism. Today, we were this close to allowing an intrusion into our privacy for what was nothing more than security theater. Today, even in the face of such full-throated bipartisan support for the passage of the SIM Card Registration Bill into law, the President vetoed it not only because the constitutional defects were glaring, but because the passage of this law posed a real and serious threat to our national security.
For this successful defense of our values and beliefs, there are many who deserve thanks.
First, we thank the President for showing up at the front line of the defense of the Bill of Rights. We thank the hardworking persons in our government who work tirelessly to ensure that we do things the right way.
We thank those who have always led the way in defending our rights and freedoms, especially online. We thank the Foundation for Media Alternatives, Wiki Society of the Philippines, Data Ethics PH, Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team Coordinating Center, Computer Professionals Union, Testudo, Human Rights Online Philippines, Python Philippines, Blogwatch, Bicol IT, PHP Davao, WordPress Iloilo, PWA Philippines, Philippine Information Technology Organization, Dakila, UP Internet Freedom Network, PizzaPy, UP College of Engineering Department of Computer Science, UP Visayas Komsai, Team Good Knight and other organizations who joined the call to petition the President to veto this bill.
We thank international organizations like Mozilla for the solidarity they gave in calling the Philippine government to action.
We thank the more than 83,000 people that signed our petition on the Change website calling for the veto of this bill.
You all are instrumental in defending liberty.
Any attempt to redraw this law once more must return to the halls of Congress, which must be again chastened by the checks and balances that were so instituted to ensure that “we are a government of laws, not men.”
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https://www.pna.gov.ph/
Duterte vetoes SIM registration bill
By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos
April 15, 2022, 2:15 pm
The provision ordering the mandatory registration of social media accounts prompted Duterte to veto the measure, acting Presidential Spokesperson, Communication Secretary Martin Andanar, said in a press statement.
“The President has decided to veto the consolidated Senate Bill No. 2395/House Bill No. 5793, which seeks to mandate the registration of all SIM cards and social media accounts, with the purpose of deterring electronic communication-aided crimes,” he said.
While Duterte lauded the Congress’ efforts in finding ways to address the increasing incidence of cybercrimes and offenses related to information and communications technology (ICT), he was “constrained to disagree with the inclusion of social media in the measure, without providing proper guidelines and definitions,” Andanar said.
The President, he said, expressed concern that the contentious provision “may give rise to a situation of dangerous state intrusion and surveillance threatening many constitutionally protected rights.”
“It is incumbent upon the Office of the President to ensure that any statute is consistent with the demands of the Constitution, such as those which guarantee individual privacy and free speech,” Andanar said.
Duterte sought a “more thorough” review of the proposal to mandate social media registration, he added.
“Prior versions only mandated the registration of SIM cards. The President similarly found that certain aspects of state intrusion, or the regulation thereof, have not been duly defined, discussed, or threshed out in the enrolled bill, with regard to social media registration,” Andanar said. “The President noted that the inclusion of social media providers in the registration requirement was not part of the original version of the bill and needs a more thorough study.”
He expressed hope that despite Duterte’s decision to veto the SIM Card Registration bill, lawmakers would continue crafting measures that would create a “safe and secure online environment” for the Filipino people.
“This notwithstanding, we ask Congress not to lose heart in passing effective and strengthened measures that offer our citizens a safe and secure online environment, provided that the same would stand judicial scrutiny,” Andanar said.
In February, the Senate and the House of Representatives ratified the bicameral conference committee report on contrasting provisions of the proposed SIM Card Registration Act.
Under the measure, Public Telecommunications Entities (PTEs) must require the registration of SIM cards for collection in a centralized database as a pre-requisite to the sale and activation of SIM cards.
The bill has a provision that states, “All social media account providers shall require (the) real name and phone number (of a user) upon creation of account.”
It penalizes those who sign up for social media accounts using fictitious identities with a fine of PHP200,000 and a jail term of up to six years or both.
Direct sellers will require the end-user to present their valid identification with a photo along with an accomplished control-numbered registration form provided by the respective PTE.
A person who wants to purchase a SIM card but cannot personally register for a valid reason may opt to authorize another person to buy, given that there is a Special Power of Attorney and proper identification of the principal buyer and representative. (PNA)