MANILA - Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the measure mandating the registration of SIM cards has already been sent to Malacañang for President Rodrigo Duterte's signature.

“Lagda nalang po ng Pangulo (Pres. Rodrigo Duterte) ang inaantay. Ang lahat ng SIM cards, dapat ipa-rehistro na," said Gatchalian.

(It only needs the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte. All SIM cards should be registered.)

Gatchalian said the measure will prevent people from using cellphones to harass and bully others, or commit fraud. He noted that cellphones have even been used as triggering devices for bombs.)

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Gatchalian, in a previous statement said this took him “eight years” for this bill to get to where it is today.

He is confident that the measure can deter crimes and even troll farms.

“Malaki ang paniniwala ko na… bababa ang kaso sa krimen,” he added.

(I believe that the crime rate will decrease.)

An Internet rights advocacy group meanwhile said it was worried the recently ratified SIM Card Registration Act's provision on social media accounts was "too vague" to be safely implemented.

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