Philippine passports are currently valid for five years and Senator Ralph Recto wants to change that.
The Philippine Passport Act of 1996 seeks to extend passport validity to 10 years.
According to Recto, the extension will spare overseas Filipino workers the hassles of passport renewal.
However, it will not apply to minors because the requirement of international conventions states that minors should only be issued five-year passports.
The bill also grants the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) the right to limit the validity of a passport to less than 10 years if the applicant lacks adequate documents or if he/she is deemed a threat to national security and public safety, according to Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Days before assuming the presidency, Duterte ordered DFA Secretary to address the long queues of people applying for passports.
Recto has also filed a separate bill aiming to extend driver’s license validity from three years to five years.
