The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill extending the validity of Philippine passports from 5 to 10 years.
Senate Bill No. 1365, or the Philippine Passport Act, was authored by Senators Richard Gordon, Cynthia Villar, JV Ejercito, Loren Legarda, Sonny Angara, Joel Villanueva, Grace Poe, Alan Peter Cayetano and Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto.
It was approved with 18 affirmative votes, zero negative vote and zero abstention.
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations vice-chair Cynthia Villar, said the bill seeks to extend the validity of Philippine passports to make travel abroad easier particularly for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“We owe a lot to our OFWs. They keep our economy afloat with their remittances of approximately $50 billion annually. Giving them a 10-year guarantee on their right to travel abroad will certainly be a great help to them,” Villar said.
Story re-published with permission from ABS-CBNNews
