BAYAN Muna Partylist is against the SIM Card Registration proposal saying that it is poised to infringe on the privacy of subscribers and will become an additional burden to mobile phone users.
Mandatory registration for prepaid mobile phone subscribers is not the answer to terrorism, crime, or the impunity that persists in our country. Contrarily, we at Bayan Muna see the great risk of misuse of registered user’s personal information and exchanges as being proposed today by some legislators.
The current set-up is already subject to abuse by authorities and criminals for racketeering (like the spam texts), harassment and extortion of civilians. There are already many reports of surveillance, threat and harassment of activists through their mobile phones.
The proposal could easily extend to all online activities with the aid of the Cybercrime Law.
Real time collection of data is unconstitutional, as it blatantly violates the right to privacy. However, for the intention of the SIM Card Registration proposal to deter crime to be effective, it must have access to all mobile phone exchanges as it happens. There would be a virtual Big Brother trafficking all our mobile phone exchanges.
The burden of registration will be on subscribers. Prices of SIM cards and prepaid credit are also expected to shoot up because telcos will pass the additional cost of registration to subscribers if this proposal becomes law. Also, the almost 100 million prepaid SIM card users will have to line up in the few offices of the NTC and present valid IDs to register their SIMs, and most probably have to pay for registration.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has only one office per region, numbering to only 15 nationwide. SIM card registration would face administrative challenges as 90 percent of all SIM cards in the country are prepaid.
This is an administrative nightmare for the government to make sure that the almost 100 million prepaid subscribers’ data are safe. This is not an expense that the government should prioritize. –Isagani Zarate, representative Bayan Muna
‘Out Now!’
THE Philippines Chapter of the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS-Phils) challenges President Duterte to make good his call for the withdrawal of US troops in the Philippines.
Duterte snubbed US President Obama at the Asean+3 meeting in Laos, criticized the US for the country’s woes and later called for the withdrawal of US troops in Mindanao. We hope he makes good on his call for the entire country.
Our group has been calling for the withdrawal of all US military presence in the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region particularly from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia and South China Sea.
Duterte’s call for American troop withdrawal however was not officially communicated to Washington and the US still has its Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) of 1951 secured with the VFA and Edca.
Duterte was quoted before military troops at the Villamor Airbase last Tuesday as saying “Who am I to abrogate a treaty?”
He has not really broken off ties with the US. The VFA and EDCA are not treaties but executive agreements he can render null and void as head of the executive.
Duterte hinted at opting out of US-led patrols in South China Sea and partially shifting the procurement of arms to Russia and China. He said that the two countries had agreed to give the Philippines a 25-year soft loan to buy military equipment.
Sovereignty and defense can best be relied on the Filipino people themselves and not on some foreign power. Imperialism thrives on its wars of intervention and aggression amid a global depression and rivalries over dwindling resources. A multipolar world and a weakening US position allow the Philippines to chart its own independent course and to walk free, fast and far in this world. That is independent foreign policy that Duterte should actively pursue.
We stand pat on out stand: No to US bases, no to US troops, no to MDT-VFA-Edca. –Elmer Labog, International League of People’s Struggle-Philippines
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