A law has been duly signed by His Excellency President Rodrigo Duterte to prolong validity of passports from previously 5 years to 10 years and the validity of driver’s license from 3 years to 5 years subsequently.
Known as Republic Act 10928, Duterte signed the law last Wednesday extending the validity of passport and an amendment of section 10 of the Republic Act 8239 also known as the Passport Act of 1996. Said amendment reflects that passports will now be valid for 10 years. However, 5 years validity shall still be applied for travel documents held by minors.
On the same day, President Duterte also signed the law extending the length of validity of the driver’s license to 5 years under Republic Act 10930. It is also an amendment of Section 23 of RA4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code which previously sets its validity for 3 years.
However, if a driver holding a license with a 5-year validity maintains a clean record of not committing any violation of traffic rules and regulations more so violation of RA4136, the driver could be granted a 10-year validity driver’s license upon renewal. Of course, case of which is still subjected to restrictions imposed by LTO (Land Transportation Office) who will be working under stricter rules prior to issuance of driver’s licenses.
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The law states, “The LTO shall promulgate prerequisites and guidelines before the grant of drivers’ licenses to ensure that these are issued only to deserving applicants with sufficient driving skills.”
Also stated in the law is a new provision penalizing persons with a fine of P20,000 which shall be imposed to a driver who violates rules on the issuance of driver’s licenses should one be found to be engaged in falsifying documents, cheating during the exam, misrepresenting information or connived with an officer for the fast processing of the license.
Said laws will take effect 15 days after publication in newspapers or in the Official Gazette.
These laws were seen as part of the President’s vision to uphold fast, efficient and hassle-free transactions within its government agencies for the convenience of every Filipino.
Source: ABS-CBN
