By: Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos
President Duterte signed yesterday laws extending the validity of passport and driver’s license to 10 years and five years, respectively.
Duterte signed Republic Acts 10928 and 10930, the laws he promised to implement within his term during his first State of the Nation Adress (SoNA).
Under RA 10928, the public will be issued with passports valid for 10 years while individuals under the age of 18 will be issued with passports valid for five years only.
The new law also gives the issuing authority the ability to limit the period of validity to less than 10 years “whenever in the national economic interest or political stability of the country such restriction is necessary.”
The law also mandates the Department of Foreign Affairs to issue the necessary implementing rules and regulations (IRR) in convergence with necessary reforms to make the passport processing system seamless, convenient and pro-people, and the production and security of passports at par with technological advances and world standards.
RA 10928 shall take effect 15 days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
Aside from extending the validity of the driver’s license to five years, RA 10930, also mandates the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to adopt measures to prevent any alteration or falsification of a license, or measures that will enable the LTO to detect any unauthorized license.
