The Department of Foreign Affairs has opposed the proposal of Senator Raffy Tulfo that would grant senior citizens and elderly a lifetime validity of passports.
DFA Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Henry Bensurto said the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is only recommending that passports or other travel documents be valid for a maximum of 10 years.
“We did some inquiries with other governments as well. None of the other countries are thinking along those lines,” Bensurto said during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Thursday.
Tulfo had earlier proposed a “simple amendment” to the Passport Act of 1996 to make the validity of passports of Filipinos aged 60 years old and above. “The process of renewing their passport would be made easier and more convenient to senior citizens, and this will save them from the rigors of traveling to the passport renewal center or having to stand or wait unnecessarily for hours, thereby risking their health,” Tulfo wrote in Senate Bill 657.
Bensurto said as it is, senior citizens are no longer required to queue, can just walk in to any DFA Consular Offices, and given preferential treatment under the Courtesy Lane.
“The practical implications [of having a validity of passport] goes beyond the borders of the Philippines,” Bensurto said, citing that whenever one travels overseas, immigration personnel are required to see the validity of the passport. Also, during visa application, embassies are requiring applicants to state the expiry date of their passports.
Senator Imee Marcos, chairperson of the Senate committee on foreign relations, prodded the DFA how they can further accommodate senior citizens as she noted that the International Civil Aviation Organization is only “recommending” that passports should have a validity date.
“We recognize the power and authority of Senate; however, we’re suggesting not to proceed with the lifetime passport validity,” Bensurto said.
DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo said the department welcomes the other proposed Senate bills to amend the Passport Act to “further improve the application process by simplifying procedures and providing accessibility to the general public.”
Bensurto proposed the DFA be allowed under the Passport Law to issue emergency passports.
“For example, a person whose relative died, but lost their passport, in those instances it takes about 15 days as clearing period before their passport but we provide some assistance to lift this,” he explained.
Bensurto also said the amendment to the Passport Law should allow them to be prepared for “third generation of passport” which will be contactless where Filipinos can only apply using an app in their smartphones.
Meanwhile, the DFA also asked the Senate for a supplementary budget so they can continue with the operation of the Temporary Offsite Passport Services (TOPS) in the malls, and also for regional offices, embassies and consulates to conduct mobile passport services.
DFA contracts with malls for TOPS operations expire in December 2022, and DFA- TOPS can accommodate 500 per site, or combined can process 20,000 applications a day.
Sen. Marcos suggested that the DFA include in the Passport Act amendment to institutionalize TOPS, mobile passport services and special lanes, as well as working with the Department of Information and Communications Technology on more effective website to process DFA applications.
Image credits: Official Gazette