News Roundup 28 December 2022
Dec 28, 2022 • 5 min Read
Groups want halt to SIM registration after first day ‘failure’ | PHILSTAR.COM – A coalition of digital experts, consumers and other groups called for the suspension of SIM registration which it called a “failure” after many mobile users experienced difficulties on the first day of registration. “It is clear that both telecommunications companies and the Department of Information and Communications Technology are unprepared for this implementation,” the Junk SIM Registration Network said in a statement Tuesday evening. “Subscribers have experienced difficulties accessing servers for the SIM card registration process, as platforms of the major telecommunications companies repeatedly crashed.” Technical issues marred the first day of SIM registration on Tuesday, with many mobile users unable to register on the portals provided by the two biggest telcos, Globe Telecom and Smart Communications, as they were either taken down or inaccessible due to heavy traffic. Globe Telecom said earlier Tuesday that it had to take down its registration portal to comply with the mandate to also include a verification process by uploading a selfie with a government-issued ID. Later the same day, however, Globe said it had to take the site offline after it discovered “potential minor vulnerabilities” that may expose their customers’ data to “serious threats.” The Junk SIM Registration Network and Digital Pinoys said the additional requirement of uploading a selfie to verify people’s identities may be a privacy violation as the collection of biometric data is not required under the law or its implementing rules and regulations. In addition to this, the Junk SIM Registration Network noted how the deadlines for registration vary, with Globe providing a registration period that is shorter than the 180 days required by law as it is only giving subscribers until April 26, 2023 to register. The coalition added that there has been a lack of on-the-ground information campaigns as telcos solely relied on online and text advisories which they said leaves users at risk of becoming victims of scams. “In the days leading up to the implementation of the law, the telecommunications companies warned the public about the possibility of phishing activities and fake accounts masquerading as legitimate registration sites, highlighting their own inability to prevent these threats,” it said. It added that no registration facilities have been set up in remote areas with limited internet connectivity and no list of these areas has been released or identified. “The difficulties experienced by the common Filipino today have exposed the true nature of this law, which merely serves to amplify and exacerbate their everyday struggles,” the coalition said. The SIM Registration Act was among the laws identified by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as his administration’s priorities and was swiftly and overwhelmingly approved by Congress, which is dominated by his allies. The law is meant to curb crime and spam text messages, although ICT rights advocates have cast doubt whether it will actually work given the failure of similar measures in other countries.
Clashing clans cause tension in Maguindanao del Sur town | PHILSTAR.COM – Four people were killed in separate gunfights Tuesday between rival groups in two towns in Maguindanao del Sur that forced dozens of families to relocate to safe areas. Police Lt. Nurjhasser Sali, municipal police chief of Datu Montawal, told reporters Wednesday a gunman named Khalid Mindalagat was killed when members of two Moro clans, armed with assault rifles, fought Tuesday at the border of barangays Dungguan and Palapas. The rival clans, both identified with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, are fighting for control of strategic areas in Datu Montawal. Local officials said a number of families in farmlands at the boundary of barangays Dungguan and Palapas had to leave their homes because of the The Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have since been trying to deescalate the situation with the help of MILF officials in the municipality. The hostilities in Montawal were preceded by an encounter between two MILF groups in Sultan sa Barongis in Maguindanao del Sur before dawn the same day that left three dead and displaced villagers. Police Maj. Michael Ameril, chief of the Sultan sa Barongis Municipal Police Station, said Wednesday a group from the MILF’s 118th Base Command led by Marham Sali attacked Sitio Damabagu in Barangay Barurao at about 3 a.m. Tuesday and fired at the houses of their enemies, led by Ustadz Daya. Daya, an Islamic preacher, is a senior member of the MILF’s 105th Base Command. The local police and officials of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion have confirmed that Sali and a follower were killed in the ensuing firefight that also resulted in a death of one of Daya’s relatives. “The group of Sali assumed that it was Daya and his followers who killed his relative,” Ameril said. Army Maj. Gen. Roy Galido, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, said Wednesday he is confident that the MILF leadership can reconcile the two groups. Galido said personnel of the 601st Infantry Brigade had been deployed as “buffer troops” against further clashes.
Village chiefs’ league in Pampanga call for justice over slay of member | INQUIRER.NET – The Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) in Pampanga on Wednesday (Dec. 28) has urged the police to swiftly solve the killing of a village chief in this capital city on Tuesday night (Dec. 27). “This is very saddening because this incident tells us that barangay (village) officials performing their duties meet dangers, even death,” ABC president and Provincial Board Member Renato Mutuc said in a phone interview. A lone gunman approached third-termer Jesus Liang, village chief of Sto. Rosario, and shot him in the head as he was walking along a street across the newly renovated public market at around 8:30 p.m., the police said in a report Wednesday. Liang, 63, was shot along a dark portion of the Abad Santos St. which makes identifying the assassin a challenge to police, according to Lieutenant Colonel Preston Bagangan, this city’s police chief, said, citing initial footage obtained from a security camera. San Fernando Mayor Vilma Caluag called for justice, calling the incident a “merciless killing” of a “dedicated leader.” In a statement posted in the city government’s social media, Caluag assured she would “focus on the police’s investigation in order to immediately resolve the case and bring the killers behind bars.”
