Manila, Philippines—Senator Ralph Recto has filed a bill which aims to extend the validity period of the Philippine passport from five years to 10 years.
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.
In his proposed bill, Recto wants to amend Section 10 of Republic Act 8239, or the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, so that the validity period of the passport can be lengthened to 10 years.
The re-elected senator enumerated in the bill’s explanatory note the inconveniences that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) face in obtaining a passport.
“Most OFWs are allowed to return to the Philippines from two weeks to a month while the processing of applications and renewal of passports can take from ten to fifteen days—not including the waiting period for an appointment, “ Recto told The Inquirer.
“This might be too short a time for OFWs to secure new passports. Many spend their entire vacation in queues for multiple government-issued permits needed for their employment,” he added.
While the bill extends the expiry of a passport to a decade, it will not apply to minors as international conventions require that they be issued five-year passport due to the fact that the physical appearance of children could change substantially within that period.
The bill also grants the Secretary of Foreign Affairs the right to limit the validity of a passport to less than 10 years if he deems that national security, public safety or public health or whenever the applicant’s supporting documents appear inadequate.
A similar bill extending the validity period of Philippine passports to 10 years has been filed in the House of Representatives by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
For 2016, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is expected to collect P4.6 billion from passport processing.
