TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Regional Director Felix S. Tabanao, Jr. revealed with the City Information Office on March 9 that there has been a low turnout of individuals who have registered their SIM cards in Region 8.
According to the official, only 28% of the total population in Eastern Visayas has registered their SIM cards as mandated by the Republic Act 11934, also known as the SIM Card Registration Act.
DICT has planned to conduct a "Registration Caravan" to address this issue and disseminate information about the SIM card registration process in Tacloban City and other parts of the region.
One of the reasons for the low turnout is the lack of Telco coverage in some remote areas of the region and insufficient information about the registration process.
The registration deadline is April 26, but DICT is considering extending it due to the low number of registrants.
Meanwhile, Director Tabanao announced that the office has received additional funding of over Php 375 Million from House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez's office.
The funds will be used for various programs, including providing free public WiFi, a disaster resiliency program, rehabilitating eight communication towers that can be rented by Telcos, and procuring laptops for their laptop distribution program, among others.
The DICT office in A Mabini At., Port Area in Tacloban City, will also assist walk-in clients who wish to register their SIM cards.