President Duterte has vetoed the proposed SIM Card Registration Act.
PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE — The President has vetoed the proposed bill seeking the mandatory registration of all SIM cards and social media accounts.
On Friday, Presidential Communications Secretary and acting Presidential Spokesperson Martin Andanar said in a statement that the President believes the proposed SIM Card Registration Act needs further study.
According to Andanar, President Duterte noted that the inclusion of social media providers in the registration requirement wasn’t part of the original version of the said bill and needs a more thorough study.
“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. Prior versions only mandated the registration of SIM cards,” Andanar said. “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.“
The acting Palace spokesman also said that while the President hails Congress’ efforts to deter cybercrime incidents, he’s constrained to disagree with the inclusion of social media in the said measure without providing proper guidelines and definitions thereto.
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He added that the President believes this 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.
Andanar’s statement came after the Senate and the House of Representatives ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the said bill on February 2, 2022.
Senator Grace Poe, the chairperson of the Senate’s contingent to the bicameral conference committee, said that lawmakers used the House version as the working draft for the final version of the said bill but adopted the amendments from the senators.
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