NBI registers SIM using monkey pic

A photo of a smiling monkey passed through undetected in the SIM card registration site of telecommunications companies, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

- Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Cecille Suerte Felipe

During the Senate public services committee hearing into the proliferation of text scams in the country on Tuesday, NBI cybercrime chief Jeremy Lotoc showed a video of his agents registering a fake PhilHealth ID bearing the picture of a monkey in the registration site of Globe Telecom Inc.

Sen. Grace Poe said it is an "insult" to the law's implementation.

"All of us here are playing catch-up with technology. We have to keep updating because it is frustrating, and it is adding insult to injury that a smiling monkey can register a SIM card," she lamented.

"It's looking like what we have now is not really sufficient. We will have to go back to the drawing board," she noted.