With the April 26 deadline for SIM card registration looming for mobile users whose SIMs could face perpetual deactivation through non-compliance, telco providers have found a “creative” way to compel subscribers to register: emergency alerts.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Racquel Fortun posted a screenshot yesterday of an emergency alert — which comes with a loud, blaring sound and a message through a push notification typically reserved for disasters and calamities — that contained an advisory from a large telco provider reminding its users to register before it was too late.
“Is this the proper use of telecom emergency alerts?” Fortun wrote.
Columnist Tonyo Cruz replied with a copy of Republic Act 10639, which states that emergency alerts should only be used for disasters and calamities.
He added that these warning alerts have to go through the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), with the implementing rules and regulations listing only 10 disaster-related government agencies authorized to issue the messages.
Users complained that the use of emergency alerts triggered anxiety responses among them, as they thought there was an incoming disaster or calamity.
“My first thought was an earthquake. Then [I got] worried about seniors who might have gotten scared because of the alert when it was only about SIM registration. I think this is an improper use of emergency alert, especially when they’ve had months to educate the public through other ways,” one wrote.
“I was surprised when I got this. I thought there was a storm because my mom told me it’s been raining heavily in the province. I also thought baka heatwave warning. [Using] this was so unnecessary and could’ve triggered someone with severe anxiety,” another chimed in.
“I was at Manila Zoo when I received the alert. And the alert sounded off all at once for everyone who had a phone. So imagine the sound, the possible panic, and the reaction of the people there,” one shared.
Mobile users in the Philippines only have until April 26 to register their SIM cards or face permanent deactivation, based on the SIM Card Registration Act that was signed in October and took effect in late December.
Yet registration numbers remain low, with the National Telecommunications Commission reporting that only 45 percent, or 75.5 million out of 168 million SIM cards have been registered as of April 20.
