Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday said his department is preparing the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) to fast-track the implementation of the 10-year validity of Philippine passports once the bill on it is signed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Cayetano expressed confidence that the President would sign into law the Senate-approved Senate Bill 1365 or the Philippine Passport Act.
“Naipasa na ito at I have no reason to believe na mabi-veto, so nagpagawa na ko ng IRR (implementing rules and regulations) para pagnapirmahan na ng Pangulo, mabilis ito mai-implement (The bill has been signed and I have no reason to believe that it will be vetoed so I already ordered the formulation of the IRR so once the President signs it, it will be implemented immediately),” Cayetano told reporters.
Under Senate Bill 1365, regular passports will be valid for 10 years instead of the current five.
Cayetano also bared an initiative adopted by his department to speed up passport application.
He said they have added 15 passport data-capturing machines to boost processing capacity.
“We can process 1,000 more passports a day or 30 percent has been added to the capacity (so) from 2,300 a day, it can now process 3,300 (passports) a day,” he added. (Leslie D. Venzon/PNA)
photo credit: Travelbook.ph
