Former President and incumbent Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has filed a bill extending the validity of Philippine passports.
House Bill 487 is an act amending section 10 of Republic Act 8239 or the Philippine Passport Act of 1996.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier vowed to cut red tape and eliminate lines in the delivery of basic services. Processing of Philippine passports has been known to be one of those causing long lines in the bureaucracy.
Arroyo, who was once prevented from leaving the country without a valid court order, stressed in the explanatory note of her bill that Article 3, Section 6 of the 1987 Constitution states that the right to travel shall not be impaired, except in the interest of national security, public safety or public health, as maybe provided by law.
Under section 10 of the Philippine Passport Act, the validity specified for regular passports is only five years. A five-year passport validity is rather too short given the tedious process and cost required to obtain a new a passport.
“This bill therefore seeks to enhance the Filipinos’ unimpaired exercise of their constitutional right to travel by increasing the validity of regular passports issued from five years to 10 years,” the explanatory note said.
Before this, Arroyo also filed other bills consistent with Duterte’s advocacies on emergency powers to address traffic woes and amendments to the 1987 Constitution.
Duterte was Arroyo’s anti-crime adviser during her presidency. Duterte has been crediting Arroyo for her tough anti-illegal drugs stance during her term.
