Sen. Grace Poe. Senate PRIB/File
MANILA - Senator Grace Poe on Sunday urged the government to arrest and penalize text scammers, as provided in the SIM Registration Act.
In a statement, Poe said the law has good provisions, and should be used by concerned agencies, law enforcers and telcos, instead of halting its implementation.
"Nasa awtoridad ang responsibilidad ng maayos na pagpapatupad ng batas na ito. Ang sabi ko nga, kung may matibay na ebidensya laban sa mga nahuli na lumalabag sa batas, sampolan n'yo na," Poe, the principal author and sponsor of the law, said.
"Ang dapat talaga, pinatutupad ang ang batas. Kapag may nakita ang ating mga kababayan na nahuli at kinulong dahil dito nga sa mga fake registration ng SIM o nagbebenta ng pre-registered na SIM, kahit papaano mababawasan yan," she added.
According to Poe, those who have been caught with pre-registered SIM cards in the recent raids in cybercrime hubs should be penalized.
"Dati, kung may makita na may fake na SIM cards, hindi makasuhan dahil walang batas, ibig sabihin, hindi iligal 'yun. Ngayon, binigyan na natin ng armas ang awtoridad sa pamamagitan ng batas. Umaasa ang ating mga kababayan na gagawin nila ang trabaho nila," she added.
Poe also said the live selfie should be included as part of the verification process.
Government agencies and telcos should also work closely to improve mechanisms for reporting about text scams and fraud.
"Dapat may mas madaling reporting mechanism kapag meron tayong nakukuhang mga fake na SIM card o may mga nanloloko. Dapat laging may sumasagot sa telco hotlines na pwedeng tumulong sa ating mga kababayan," she said.
Poe on Friday had defended the law mandating SIM registration in the country as she opposed calls to hold in-person verification instead of online following the discovery of some loopholes.
The senator, who authored the SIM Registration Act, was reacting to the plea of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) to suspend online SIM registration and instead hold manual verification.
The suggestion was made after they discovered how easily anyone can register a SIM, even by using fake identities, with non-human photos. But Poe said the law had enough teeth and the problem was how it was being implemented by government agencies and telcos.