Around 42 percent of SIM card subscribers have registered with nine days left in the deadline for registration even as a group questioned the legality of its law.

In a 59-page petition filed by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and several individuals, the petitioners asked the Supreme Court (SC) to declare as unconstitutional Republic Act No. 11934, otherwise known as the SIM Registration Act, on the ground that it violates the basic constitutional rights of SIM card users.

The petitioners also asked for the immediate release of a temporary restraining order or a writ of preliminary injunction.

They claim more than 106 million unregistered Filipinos stand to be disenfranchised through the deactivation of their SIMs if they fail to comply with the April 26 deadline.

“Given the nature of cell phones and devices connected to the internet, the SIM Registration Act partakes in the nature of prior restraint. On its face, the law chills all speech done through SIM cards if disclosure Is not made,” the petition read.

Named respondents in the petition were the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the National Privacy Commission, DICT, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Education, as well as telecommunication companies such as Globe Telecom Inc., Smart Communications, Inc., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), Dito Telecommunity Corporation, DIgitel Mobile Philippines Inc., Sun Cellular and Cherry Mobile Communications Inc.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said that as of Monday, out of the 168, 977, 773 subscribers, only 71,952,802 or 42.8 percent have registered their SIM cards.

Of the registered, 31,028,672 are from Globe, 35,660,655 are from Smart, and 5,263,475 are from DITO. Jaspearl Tan/DMS