SIMingly Inconvenient

Although it draws inconvenience to some, if the government could provide ways to counter these downsides, the Sim Card Registration law could be a great approach to maintaining safety and security in our country.

In response to the never-ending flood of fake messages, legislators have made SIM card registration a must for every mobile subscriber to ensure that every nation’s people will be protected from fraudulent acts. However, it still poses some potential drawbacks, giving people second thoughts regarding this matter. Slowly progressing towards becoming an advanced nation, the Philippines recently implemented the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Law to minimize the emergence of the number of crimes and scams circulating within the society. Everyone is expected to register their mobile phone numbers to ensure a “safer and better Philippines” as it is a way for the government to control the rampant issue of online perpetrators and text scammers that have impacted a considerable number of Filipinos. Despite the opportunities it is supposed to offer to improve lives and elevate the security of the community, it is considered to be impervious for underprivileged individuals– even welcoming a bigger level of possibility for danger. As technology’s advancements expand day by day, its growth has helped the day-to-day lives of everyone as well. It undoubtedly can be called a life-saver, from functional appliances like refrigerators and digital stoves that can extend shelflives of foods to CCTVs and cellphones that can quickly help track for security purposes. According to International Trade Administration, in 2022, “the number of mobile subscribers in the Philippines will reach 159 million, and broadband subscribers will number 10.8 million” as it is expected to grow more and more in 2025. Despite its flourishing number of users, due to the digital divide, not everyone has the privilege and enough knowledge to complete the steps required. Belonging on the list are Senior Citizens who have little proficiency when it comes to these. In addition to these people, Person With Disabilities (PWDs) are also vulnerable to these operations, for not all are ‘tech-savvy’. It becomes more like a mere challenge than a benefit for them. Technology, in general, is convenient in the development of our daily lives, but adapting to these technologies can be challenging, especially for these people since they have different needs and capabilities compared to others. Thus, we should use these technologies for the benefit of everyone.

For the past decades, the Philippines remains to be touted as the “texting capital of the world”. However, with the adoption of the SIM Registration Act, Filipinos now need identification documents or cell phones to gain access to social programs, internet access, and even essential communication services. Per the regulation, SIM card buyers must complete a registration form, wherein both new and existing users are required to submit their valid IDs issued by the government. Every buyer must confirm that the submitted documents are accurate and state that they will be the one utilizing the SIM card on the registration

VOLUME XXXIV, ISSUE 7

January 2023 form. But, this regulation only makes telecommunication more unattainable to the poor, particularly the rural peasant population, who typically lack the necessary documentation or papers. Although applying for some government-issued IDs is free, the required documents are still paid for by those requesting them. Adding the cost of transportation and the wages they miss just for a day of lining up to get their documents undoubtedly burdens people more financially. This system only forces people to pull out too much effort and money, ignoring those who can barely serve a meal to their families and are too busy attending to work. Additionally, with money out of the picture, applying for government-issued IDs also burdens most people. With Commission on Audit (COA) noting Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) failure to deliver the required number of ID cards in 2021, it has caused a ripple effect wherein IDs are taking more than a year or longer to be given, up until today in 2023. With the amount of time it takes for an ID to arrive, plus the 180day registration period, people will still be at risk of being excluded due to not being able to register their SIM cards. Despite everyone’s personal information being stored and kept in one database, it is more prone to hackers’ activities. With this at hand, the data of Filipinos can be compared to a crown surreptitiously kept within a kingdom. Despite all the tight security to sturdily keep the jewel of the kingdom away from burglars, it can still be snatched in a second. Just like the data required to be recorded, these can be a direct comparison to a crown deeply treasured; but despite the guarantee for its protection, it still can seem like a free display for hackers. A single piece of information leaked can be a deep root of deceit. Numerous cases can be developed through the unintentional sharing of private information, giving way to many fraudulent

Inquirer, in 2022, 4.5% of adult Filipinos, which is equivalent to over 5 million individuals, claimed to be victims of identity theft. The emergence of technology in one’s life also tempts him to be a perpetrator of different scams. In addition to identity thieves, criminals or underprivileged people may opt to steal and use other people’s contact numbers or IDs. Having the law implemented in the country does not really pledge the country to be a safe community, rather, it only bestows more security breaches to risk.

As a third-world country, our country, the Philippines, is highly at risk to breach of digital safety and security due to our evidently underdeveloped digital and technological systems. With the prevalence of digital fraud and troll farms, which eventually leads to the further circulation of false information, fake news, and harmful malware, the sim card registration law is a significant step towards ending these, only if implemented correctly and efficiently. Although it draws inconvenience to some, if the government could provide ways to counter these downsides, the sim card registration law could be a great approach to maintaining safety and security in our country.

SELWYN JACO selwynjaco0726@gmail.com

Today’s Woeful Youth To Rest, To Resist

Schools have always been looked up to as a place where every student can freely learn without a threat or any danger. However, nowadays, along with the rise of low academic performances, various barbaric actions among students on school grounds have also arisen. The Philippines went through a shock when news came out about the incident between two high school students at Culiat High School in Quezon City that made headlines in every newspaper outlet in the country. When everyone expects that these students are learning in school, it is pretty terrifying to think how a 15-year-old student has managed to stab and kill his classmate. The frightening event appeared in everyone’s timeline just a month into the new year. With the face-to-face setup back after two years of online classes, it has sparked terror and concerns from students, teachers, parents, and even the police all over the country. Apparently, according to the police, the initial suspect for the motive was jealousy and misunderstanding. This does not, however, totally explain why the events turned out to be that way. This increasing number of incidents of school violence entirely concerns the future of these students. Making everyone think about who they should blame for such actions. Some are convinced that schools should be accountable, making some question how dangerous weapons enter the vicinity, as schools should be a peaceful environment for learning. Moreover, parents were also held accountable, as such behavior and reaction cannot be adapted by the children themselves if not observed in their surroundings, most notably in the corners of their homes.

It is quite saddening and disturbing how lives that could potentially be something more were cut off and thrown out just because of this drastic misunderstanding. We do not need any more of this.

Understanding that children in their adolescence do have violent acts as a result of volatile impulses is critical for their development into responsible adults. With that in mind, we should investigate whether our children or students are experiencing these strong emotions. They require regular attention and supervision. Rather than contradicting and insisting on our own counsel, we should take the time to check in on them, ask them questions, and let them know that their sentiments are valid and acceptable. Perhaps by instructing the youth to learn how to calm down and reflect before going to extremes, we might spare their lives from tragic endings.

This word for exhaustion will never leave our daily conversations as students in and out of our academic institutions. It has always been this way, a repetitive cycle of doing school tasks and barely having enough sleep, even our health is compromised. We cannot deny that there came a point in our lives where we ask— should education be this tiring? This neverending cycle of eatwork-sleep (if there is any) repeat to meet our academic requirements is slowly turning us into robots because we are designed to be one. This current education system of ours is neoliberal in nature. Instead of it addressing the labor demands of our country for it to prosper, it does the opposite. We are being equipped with skills to cater to the needs of the global economy, for it to stay afloat, bulking furthermore the pockets of capitalists and leaving our country with nothing. There is also this constant seeking for academic validation, a mindset enforced by the neoliberal education system. The more we’re good at something, especially on those subjects that shape us to be a productive and efficient labor force, the more worthy we are. This is why the market is much more in demand of STEM graduates rather than those in the Humanities because they could produce more. This neoliberal education has forced us into thinking that our value depends on our product.

However, one could not blame themselves for conforming to this system. We are forced to comply because this system will not adjust to us. If you want to survive, you need to conform— you need to work hard, very hard, to meet the demands of this exploitative system. We are tasked to produce outputs simultaneously with others in a limited amount of time that we have to sacrifice our sleep. This system birthed a culture where less sleep has become something to boast about. It has also become normal for us to skip meals and to feel exhausted. It seems that attending to our basic needs is turning into a privilege. Just for us to become a cog perfectly fit for a machine, we slowly kill the human in us.

Education should not be this exhausting but because of its neoliberal structure, it has become one. What we are doing right now is supposed to be beneficial for our country— for our people, but it has become not to. We are becoming neoliberal slaves that corporations need. The system we are in right now is purely exploitative and dehumanizing. Before we know it, the fire burning inside us will devour us, burning us out. That is why we need to pause for a while and take a rest, seeing it as something we hold dearly and not something to feel bad about. Let us put in our minds that “rest is part of a bigger resistance.”