Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Survey Result on the 10-year Passport Validity

We conducted a survey  (maraming salamat po sa mga sumagot) to get the pulse of our readers regarding the 5-year validity of current Philippine passport.  If the survey result serves us right,  then the clamor for a longer passport validity is totally justified.

Of the 104  total respondents, all unanimously agreed for a 10-year passport validity and they are all passport holders.



The main reason cited is less hassle (hindi abala) of scheduling and lining up to get passport. Respondents also answered it is better to have a 10-year valid passport and less costly. For some the 5-year valid passport is very short  span and the renewal entails additional cost and burden.

As to the demographics of the respondents 87% are currently abroad and the rest are staying in the country. The result is almost similar as to those who have been abroad at 85% compared to those who have not been abroad peg at 14%.

It is interesting to note that gender of respondents are equal 50% male and female.  Peg at 43%, the majority age is in the bracket of 31-40 years old, followed by those 41-50 yeard old at 26%. Those in the 20-30 years old is at 16%, one notch higher in percentage with those in the 50's.




Below are status of legislation/bills (Senate and House) pertaining to the proposed 10 year validity of the passport. The House Bill was already submitted to the Senate. Although the Senate Bill counterpart seems not a priority among the senators.


House of  Representatives Version


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H. No. 4006
BY REPRESENTATIVES BICHARA, BATOCABE, CO, REVILLA, DEL ROSARIO
(A.G.), YAP (S.), SEÑERES, DALOG, QUISUMBING, ARNAIZ, BATAOIL,
BELLO (W.), CORTUNA, PADILLA, VILLARICA AND BARZAGA, PER
COMMITTEE REPORT NO. 93

Main Referral: RULES

Status: Approved by the House on 2014-03-10, transmitted to the Senate on 2014-03-11 and received by the Senate on 2014-03-11

AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A NEW PASSPORT LAW, REPEALING
FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED EIGHT
THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE (R.A. NO. 8239),
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “PHILIPPINE PASSPORT ACT OF
1996”



SEC. 12. Validity. – Regular passports issued under this Act shall bevalid for a period of five (5) or ten (10) years.

The passport applicant shall have the option to apply for a five (5)-yearor a ten (10)-year passport: Provided, That minor applicants shall be issuedpassports valid only for five (5) years.

(original version - HB00012
AN ACT TO AMEND REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8239, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE "PHILIPPINE PASSPORT ACT OF 1996"
Principal Author: BICHARA, AL FRANCIS D.
Main Referral: FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Status: Substituted by HB04006)

http://www.congress.gov.ph/download/billtext_16/hbt4006.pdf



Senate Version

S.B. 2229
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A NEW PASSPORT LAW, REPEALING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED EIGHT THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE (R.A. NO. 8239), OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE PHILIPPINE PASSPORT ACT OF 1996

Pending in the Committee (5/20/2014)
http://www.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/1912416248!.pdf



Note:  The Senate version is similar to the House version. In both bills, there is  no provision  as to the number of pages in the passport. For those who travel frequently and with the 10-year passport validity, additional pages in the passport is necessary. In some countries passport holders can apply for additional pages for their passport and this entails additional cost.

Survey Link:
http://philippinemigrantsrightswatch.blogspot.com/2015/06/survey-philippine-passport-10-year.html 

Friday, June 5, 2015

Survey: Philippine Passport 10-year Validity





We would like to solicit your response to this survey so we can be guided on a possible advocacy of having Philippine passport extended for 10 years given the current problem of passporting at the DFA. There were several reports that we came across of OFWs not being able to go back to work or deployed on time because of their expired passport (that took long time to renew) or not having the required 6 months validity to be able to travel.