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Rainier Allan Ronda - The Philippine Star
March 4, 2025 | 12:00am
The telecom services provider yesterday said if the government shared its database of official IDs – such as the National, Social Security System and Government Service Insurance System IDs – with telcos, it would improve the verification for persons registering their SIM.
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MANILA, Philippines — Despite having measures to defend against online scams, wireless provider Globe Telecom Inc. is asking the government to give it access to an official ID database, now that fraudsters are coming up with new ways to circumvent SIM registration.
The telecom services provider yesterday said if the government shared its database of official IDs – such as the National, Social Security System and Government Service Insurance System IDs – with telcos, it would improve the verification for persons registering their SIM.
Globe’s general counsel Froilan Castelo said while they remain committed to the implementation of Republic Act 11934, otherwise known as the SIM Card Registration Act, there is currently no official database for telcos to verify the identities of SIM card registrants.
“Currently, Globe has been strictly implementing the provisions of the SIM Registration Act, including accepting only the required identification cards, investing in software to help in reading the text on identification cards and facial recognition to ensure these are real people,” Castelo said.
“However, there is no way for us to determine – with 100 percent certainty – if the identity is fake without a database from which we can validate the identity,” he added.
Recently, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission demanded that networks firm up security protocols in their registration channels to combat the surge in pre-registered SIMs.
Globe has been proactively asking for access to an official ID database from the government since 2023 to strengthen the current verification process. — Elijah Felice Rosales
