Filipinos turn to humor after SIM registration woes: 'We are so proud of you!'

MANILA, Philippines – The first day of SIM card registration was not smooth sailing for many Filipinos as telco websites faced glitches due to the high volume of people attempting to register.

Filipinos online took the chance to turn their hard-fought registration into tarpaulin-designed congratulatory memes, with some going viral in the process.

Secondary education student Ian Asor, 21, was one of the first users who went viral for his take on the post, garnering 22,000 reactions and around 9,600 shares.

Asor humorously captioned his post: “Thank you Lord! After months of preparation, my TNT Sim Card is now finally registered. #TNTPasser”

“Naisipan ko lang po na gumawa ng congratulatory post kasi po ang daming attempt ko ginawa ‘yung pag-register and for me, achievement na makapag-register po agad ako sa first day,” he told Rappler. (I thought of making a congratulatory post as it took me many attempts to register and for me, it’s an achievement to register on the first day.)

Asor did not expect the overwhelming reaction for his post and saw it as an opportunity to remind Filipinos to register their SIM cards.

Similarly, 25-year-old Muntinlupa resident Sonnyjay Delacruz also did a congratulatory post to quell doubts on whether anyone could register their SIM cards on the first day.

“‘Yung maraming nag-react [sa post ko] tumawa kasi kahit alam nila… ang hirap pumasok sa site. At least bumenta po sa kanila ‘yung post,” Delacruz said. (Those who mostly reacted to my post laughed because they knew that it was hard to enter the site. At least the post resonated with them.)

Delacruz encountered errors in registering on his computer and cellphone before he was able to successfully register his SIM card.

Facebook User, RS

Some social media users likened their successful SIM card registration experience to passing a board exam.

Manila-based engineering student Nicole Grey told Rappler that she decided to put a RS (registered SIM) title beside her name in her now-viral post as she thought she looked like a medical school graduate in the the portrait she used for the poster.

Her post on the Facebook group Homepaslupa Buddies 3.0 has 20,000 reactions and around 5,000 shares.

It took Nicole two tries before successfully registering her SIM. She added that she was “impatient” in getting her one-time PIN to confirm her mobile number.

“Napaka-challenging mag-register ng SIM, kaya need talaga ng patience. Nakakaproud din kapag registered ka na,” she said. (It’s really challenging to register your SIM card, so you really need a lot of patience. Once you’re registered, you feel a sense of accomplishment.)

WATCH: Rappler digital communications specialist @russellchengku tries to register his SIM card on the first day of #SimRegistration in the Philippines. Did he succeed? Here’s how it went!

For details on SIM card registration: https://t.co/9wINwc2B2m pic.twitter.com/jZV8E2eHbj
— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) December 27, 2022

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said that over 3 million SIM cards have been registered as of Wednesday, December 28.

Here is the breakdown of registered SIM cards:

Globe – 1,769,374 (as of 6 pm)
Smart – 1,019,207 (as of 4 pm)
DITO – 530,424 (as of 3 pm)

The NTC has also created a task force to monitor the situation surrounding the SIM card registration process.

Meanwhile, the Department of Information and Communications Technology also launched a 24/7 complaint center for SIM registration. Concerns can be directed through hotline 1326. – Rappler.com

Read more about SIM card registration here:

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