No to insertions! Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon frustrated over SIM card registration veto

Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon is frustrated that all his hard work on the bill to make SIM card registration mandatory has been for naught because of an insertion by the bicameral conference committee.

President Duterte had vetoed the SIM card registration bill because of a provision that also sought the registration of social media accounts.

Mr. Duterte believes that without proper guidelines, this may “give rise to a situation of dangerous state intrusion and surveillance threatening many constitutionally protected rights,” according to Malacañang.

Biazon, who has been pushing for SIM card registration since the 13th Congress, was dismayed that the added provision doomed the bill when this was not even in the original version approved in the House of Representatives.

“Frustrating for it to be vetoed because of a rider inserted by the bicam,” Biazon said on Twitter.

He said the power of the bicameral conference committee should be clipped to prevent it from making insertions.

“The sim card reg bill veto highlights the need to put clarity in the rules of the bicam conference that it should only reconcile differences between senate & house versions of a bill and not introduce new provisions,” he said.

I first pushed for the sim card reg bill in the 13th congress, refiled it again & again, until 18th congress approved it. Frustrating for it to be vetoed because of a rider inserted by the bicam.

— Ruffy Biazon (@ruffybiazon) April 16, 2022

The sim card reg bill veto highlights the need to put clarity in the rules of the bicam conference that it should only reconcile differences between senate & house versions of a bill and not introduce new provisions.

— Ruffy Biazon (@ruffybiazon) April 15, 2022