The Department of Foreign affairs rejected the proposal of Sen. Raffy Tulfo that would give senior citizens and elderly a lifetime validity to passports.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has rejected Senator Raffy Tulfo's plan, which would have given seniors and the elderly lifetime passport validity.
DFA Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Henry Bensurto emphasized that the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) only advises 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.
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, the Business Mirror reported.
Senior citizens are currently granted special treatment in the courtesy lane and are no longer obliged to wait in line to enter any DFA Consular Offices.
“The practical implications of having a validity of passport goes beyond the borders of the Philippines,” Bensurto said.
When a citizen travels abroad, immigration officials must check the passport's validity. Further, while applying for a visa, applicants must mention when their passports expire.
Since the ICAO is just "recommending" that passports have a validity date, Senator Imee Marcos, leader of the Senate committee on international relations, questioned the DFA about how they could further accommodate senior citizens.
“We recognize the power and authority of Senate; however, we’re suggesting not to proceed with the lifetime passport validity,” Bensurto said.
Department of Foreign Affairs 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 suggested allowing the DFA to issue emergency passports under the Passport Law.
“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 Passport Law Amendment should enable them to be prepared for the contactless "third generation of passport," for which Filipinos can only apply through an app on their smartphones.
Meanwhile, the DFA also requested a supplementary budget from the Senate in order to maintain the Temporary Offsite Passport Services (TOPS) at malls and to support mobile passport services in regional offices, embassies, and consulates.
DFA-TOPS can accommodate 500 applicants per site or, when combined, can process 20,000 applications per day. DFA contracts with malls for TOPS operations expire this December.
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 a more effective website to process DFA applications.
Tags: #DFA, #seniorcitizens