The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) sees allowing more government-issued IDs for SIM registration as a problem and a reason, as it contributes to why text scams persist.

During the House Committee on Appropriations hearing on DICT’s proposed budget for 2027, DICT Secretary Henry Aguda stated that the acceptable IDs used during registration.

“For a while, it worked. Ang naging problema lang sa sim registration, ang daming IDs na pwedeng gamitin. 17 po ata 'yun kung hindi ako nagkakamali. Kami naman po ngayon sa NTC kasama po si sila Commissioner Ella nag-iisip na baka dapat bawasan natin 'yung type of IDs. Baka dapat sa tatlo lang na national ID ang isa passport at saka license,” he said

The DICT chief explained that limiting the options will ensure higher accuracy and make falsifying identities harder.

“Kasi pag national ID na yan, medyo mahirap mo ng i-fake kasi. So 'yun po yung balak naming gawin. Limit it to an ID that has a higher chance na tama yung tao at saka tama yung information na nandon po,” he said

With reports from Asher Cadapan Jr.