By: Roy C. Mabasa and Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos
The Department of Foreign Affairs will issue Philippine passports with a 10-year validity period starting January 2018.
The DFA has issued Department Order No. 010-2017, the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 10928, “An Act Extending the Validity of Philippine Passports,” enacted last Aug. 2.
Under the IRR, no changes will be made on the current passport except it is valid for 10 years for Filipinos 18 years or older. The DFA said that Filipinos under 18-years-old will still be issued five-year valid passports.
The cost of the ten-year passport is R950, which the DFA said is the same price with the five-year passport.
According to presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, the gesture is part of the administration’s efforts to deliver services that benefit the public.
“There will be no price increase associated with passports with 10-year validity. And the passports remain at P950, similar to the cost of five-year valid passports,” Abella said.
However, the DFA admitted that “additional fees may be imposed in the future for passports that will have enhanced features.”
This likely increase in passport fee is “in accordance with the DFA’s mandate to improve the passport processing system to make it seamless, convenient, and pro-people, and to ensure that the production and security of passports are at par with technological advances and world standards,” the DFA said.
In a video announcement posted on his Facebook account, DFA Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said the Jan. 1, 2018 effectivity was done to allow sufficient global notification and avoid confusion in all the ports abroad about the changes in the Philippine passport.
President Duterte first made the promise of extending the validity of passports during his first State-of-the-Nation Address.