How to get past the iphone activation screen?

Before i restored, i had problems with the sim. It always said it was Invalid.
now that i restored as a couple of smart-guys online said, i can't get past the activation screen without a "valid" sim.
Other details:
-updated to iOS 7.0.1
- is an Iphone 4
- i can't get to the store of my sim's Carrier as they hadn't solved the problem the first time
- in the Philippines; the sim carrier's name is "Smart"
- i plan to get a new sim in case whatever answers i come across don't work. But i'm willing to take the answers here before doing the backup plan and, yet again, having to see my backup plan didn't work. (i don't mean to be negative, sorry)

Is it a locked phone? If not then you can borrow a sim card from anyone else and just use it for the activation.