This government has a propensity for solving problems by concocting ill-perceived solutions that not only do not address the problem but turn them into monstrous proportions even bigger than before. Pandemic crisis? Roll money for tourism while the rest of the country dies of hunger. Drug problem? Kill everyone that the PNP comes across and stage the worst slaughtering campaign the nation has ever seen. Surge of Communism? Burn troves of books, revise history and turn the people into a nation of fools. Now, the imbeciles in Congress are out once again with their latest venture: to ostensibly solve the problem of scam messages, pass the SIM Card Registration Act which was previously vetoed by the former president. By now, everyone knows how this will end – another massive mess that the people will be forced to suffer from.

The SIM Card Registration Act will not be able to solve the problem of scam messaging because it does not guarantee the end of scamming but rather will only concentrate all the records and private information of consumers in a single database. Naturally, what with the level of technological retardation in the country, this will make this information even more vulnerable to attacks and hijacks. Currently, investigations on the matter show that personal information of those who received scam messages were stolen from lists and datasheets used during the pandemic peak. If the bill comes through, scammers would have to thank this government for making it so much easier for them to steal information now that these are all accessible through a single database.

In truth, the Act serves the agenda of strengthening state surveillance and will infringe upon the right to privacy of not less than 82 million Filipinos who use cellphones and 73 million Filipinos who use social media. The Act is also intentionally ambiguous on what government agencies can access these data and its purposes.

Bills such as this that purposefully violate people’s rights are doubly dangerous in the hands of this illegitimate regime which has two fascist heirs as principals. This will reinforce the stranglehold of the chilling effect that silences people, limits their actions and forbids them from enjoying their supposedly legally protected rights.

NDF-Bikol calls on all Bikolanos to demand withdrawal of support for this bill from their local representatives. As the Congress railroads this bill, it is more than auspicious to stand firm, defend the people’s rights and the very tenets of democracy.