Close to 3,000 Valenzuelanons registered their SIM cards as PLDT’s wireless subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela (PLV) wrapped up their recent SIM Registration Drive in the city.
Around 350 student-volunteers from PLV joined the initiative, which covered Valenzuela’s 33 barangays and is part of PLV’s National Service Training Program (NSTP).
Among the volunteers was Rose Anne Fuentes, a 20-year-old business administration student at PLV. “I believe that SIM Registration can really help protect us against cybercrimes. By volunteering to assist others in getting their SIMs registered, I am also helping them avoid being victimized,” she said.
For 53-year-old Elmer de Leon, who registered his Smart SIM of 13 years at Brgy Gen. T. de Leon, SIM registration is a way of safeguarding his number. “I have taken care of this SIM for so long, so I really took the time to register it, especially since I saw on the news that when you don’t register your SIM, it will get deactivated. I don’t want that to happen to my SIM,” he said.
“Having student volunteers as advocates promotes a good image to the community. It creates awareness on the importance of SIM registration, it shows how easy and convenient the steps are, and ultimately encourages our subscribers to register their SIMs,” said Roland Garcia, NCR and South Luzon Area Head for Smart. “We were able to reach out to the barangays because of our partnership with PLV student organizations. Their support for this program as they provided assistance to Smart users to have their SIMs registered has been truly remarkable.”
As the April 26 deadline for SIM Registration draws closer, Smart continues to ramp-up its efforts to encourage subscribers to register their SIMs. This includes partnering with the likes of PLV and the Valenzuela City LGU in deploying assisted SIM registration booths nationwide.
New and existing Smart Prepaid and TNT subscribers may also visit PLDT and Smart stores, or access Smart’s SIM registration portal through https://www.smart.com.ph/simreg; Postpaid users can simply text YES to 5858, while Enterprise customers can confirm their registration through their authorized representatives.
According to Republic Act (RA) 11934 or the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act, all SIM users have until April 26, 2023, to register their SIMs under their name, or risk deactivation of their SIM. The SIM Registration Act regulates the use of SIM cards to help curb the proliferation of text scams and other mobile phone-aided criminal activities.
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