Republic Act No. 11934 or the SIM Registration Act, commonly referred to as the SRA, was signed into law on 10 October 2022. 

On 12 December 2022, the National Telecommunications Commission released the implementing rules and regulations of the SRA. The SRA took effect on 27 December 2022.

The SRA is a law mandating the registration of Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards before activation and was adopted to fight the recent spike in cybercrimes using unregistered and unregulated SIM cards. 

Under the SRA, all mobile device users—prepaid or postpaid— must register their SIM cards with their respective telcos. Otherwise, the SIM card will be deactivated. The SRA also covers resident and non-resident foreigners, juridical entities, such as corporations, and even minors, subject to different documentary requirements.

For prepaid SIM card users, SIM cards must be registered and confirmed with their respective telecoms network within 180 days from 28 October 2022 or until 26 April 2023. A 120-day extension may be granted by the NTC upon a valid written request. 

Updates: On 25 April 2023, President Marcos approved a 90-day extension of SIM card registration to allow an estimated 20 million more subscribers to register their SIM cards pursuant to the SRA.

On the same day, the Supreme Court En Banc denied the prayer to issue a temporary restraining order against the implementation of the SRA in National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Inc., et al. vs The National Telecommunications, et al. docketed as G.R. No. 266367. Instead, the Supreme Court required the named respondents to file their comment to the petition within 10 days from notice. 

The Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition under Rule 65 of the Rules of Civil Procedure with Prayer for Writ of Preliminary Injunction and/or TRO dated 17 April 2023 in said case argued that the SRA registration restricts the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and violates the right against unreasonable searches and seizures and the right to substantive due process.  Thus, the petition prayed, among others, for the Supreme Court to declare the SRA as unconstitutional.  

We will continually update this post once additional information becom available.