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| Migrant workers will no longer apply personally for passport renewal under the Senate bill (File) |
A proposed law that allows senior citizens and migrant workers to renew their passports virtually, or without making a personal appearance at a consular office or post abroad, was approved on second reading at the Philippine Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 18.
Senate Bill 2001 or the New Philippine Passport Act, which is one of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr’s priority measures, will now go on a third and final reading in the Senate.
Once approved, it will go through a Conference
Committee made up of members from each House of Congress for reconciling the
provisions of the bill, before it is passed on the President, who may approve
or veto it.
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The House of Representatives passed its own version
of the bill in December last year, in which a key provision is to give senior
citizens and PWDs a 50% discount on their passport fees.
In the Senate version whose principal author is Senator Imee Marcos, Filipinos who lost their passports may request for emergency passports that are valid for a year.
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If lost abroad, the passport holder may ask
for an emergency travel document so he or she can return to the Philippines.
The measure also seeks to set up a watchlist for Filipinos who have been denied passports, or had their passports canceled.
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SBN 2001 which repeals Republic Act No 8239, or the
Philippine Passport Act of 1996, also aims to develop a new generation of
passports that conform to international standards.
"With advancements in technology, there is a
need to bring forth a new generation of passports," said Senator Marcos,
chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
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Under the Senate bill, the Secretary of Foreign
Affairs is also given power to waive the requirement of personal appearance
of first-time passport applicants if technology would allow it.
Earlier, the lower house approved with an overwhelming
252 votes House Bill 6510 which also seeks to repeal RA 9239.
HB 6510 mandates the issuance of passports using the
latest tamper-proof and data management technologies, and calls for simplifying the documentation requirements for the passport as prescribed
by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
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Like the Senate version, HB 6510 directs the DFA to
implement a system that would allow senior citizens to renew their passports
electronically, or without the need for personal appearance. However, unlike
its Senate counterpart, the House bill does not extend the privilege to migrant
workers.
HB 6510 provides that senior citizens and PWDs
should be entitled to a 50% discount on the fees for the processing, issuance
or replacement of a passport.
The measure also mandates that three passport databases
should be maintained: (1) one containing all current and previous passport and
travel documents of Filipinos an alien residents; (2) a watchlist database of
persons whose passport applications have been denied or revoked; and (3) one
containing the names and information of persons who committed passport-related
offences.
The third should cause concern to many overseas
Filipino workers, including those in Hong Kong, as using one’s passport as
collateral for loans or having multiple passports are among the
passport-related offences listed by the DFA.
The House bill added to this list the illegal
withholding of someone else’s passport (as what some employment agency staff
sometimes do), and the forging of visas and entry documents.
HB 6510 also provides stiffer penalties for offenses
relating to the forgery and improper use of passports and travel documents, and
the possession of multiple passports.
If the crime is committed by a syndicate or in large
scale, the prescribed maximum sentence is six years’ imprisonment and a fine of
up to P2 million.
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