DICT considers SIM Registration extension

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is considering extending the SIM card registration, which will end on April 26, 2023, for another 120 days.

According to DICT spokesperson, Usec. Anna Mae Lamentillo, DICT has the prerogative to grant a 120-day extension, though, and they still want to maximize the deadline.

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“Ngayon po, tinitingnan po natin iyan. Mayroon pong prerogative ang DICT para po magbigay ng additional 120-day extension, pero hindi pa namin iyan tinitingnan gusto po namin i-maximize muna iyong nalalabing araw bago po iyong deadline,” said Lamentillo in Laging Handa public briefing.

The SIM Card Registration Act or Republic Act 11934 was the first law signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

A 180-day grace period has been given for SIM card registration that started on December 27, 2023, and ends next month.

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Lamentillo also announced that a total of 45.8 million people had registered their SIM cards, of which 23,436,060 are from Smart Communications, 18.9 million were from Globe, and 3.4 million Dito subscribers.

“Sa kabuuan po mayroon na po tayong 45.8 million registered SIMs – iyong Smart po ay 23,436,060 subscribers; iyong Dito po is about 3.4 million; at iyong Globe naman po is about 18.9 million,” said Lamentillo.

BI deports Japanese fraudster

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) deported a Japanese national wanted in authorities in Tokyo for financial fraud.

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BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco shared that Risa Yamada, 26, was deported morning of March 17 on board a Japan Airlines flight to Narita.

Yamada was initially arrested by the BI’s Fugitive Search Unit last January 9 along Roxas Blvd. in Pasay City after being tagged as a fugitive from justice by her government.

She is reportedly the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Tokyo Summary Court on September 15, 2022 where she was indicted for the crime of theft.

Reports state that Yamada conspired with other suspects in stealing the data from the ATM cards of their victims, whom they were able to defraud by posing bank employees and police officers.

It was gathered that Yamada is already an undocumented when she was arrested as her passport was already cancelled by the Japanese government.

As a consequence of her deportation, her name has been included in the BI’s blacklist, banning her from re-entering the Philippines.

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