House approves bill granting emergency passports, other travel docs

The House of Representatives on Monday evening approved on third and final reading a bill granting emergency passports and other pertinent travel documents under certain conditions.  

The measure numbered House Bill 6510, unanimously approved with 252 votes, specifically provides for the issuance of emergency passports to Filipino citizens who have been previously issued regular passports but for certain reasons cannot apply for or be issued regular passports, and authorizes the issuance of other travel documents based the following circumstances:

• emergency travel document issued to a Filipino citizen who needs to travel urgently but who has lost a valid passport, or whose passport has expired or is expiring and cannot be issued a regular passport or who has not been issued a regular passport and who for one reason or another cannot be issued a regular passport;
• travel document certificate for Filipinos to be repatriated, alien spouse of a Filipino and their dependents who are yet to be naturalized, and aliens permanently residing in the Philippines; and
• convention travel documents for stateless persons, refugees or persons applying for asylum in the Philippines.

House Bill 6510 also mandates the issuance of diplomatic passports to the Secretary of the Senate and the Secretary-General of the House of Representatives.  

In addition, the bill  states that the issuance of passports should use the latest tamper-proof and data management technologies as well as simplifies the passport documentation requirements of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Office of Consular Affairs in conformity with Domestic Adoption Act of 1998, Citizenship and Reacquisition Act of 2003 and existing standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). 

Likewise, House Bill 6510 tasks the DFA to implement a system wherein senior citizens may renew their passports through the use of available technology without the need for personal appearance.  

“This is to harmonize the provisions of the existing Passport Law with current domestic laws and international agreements affecting the application and issuance of passports,” the committee report on the measure read.  

Assistance to elderly

House Bill 6510 also tasks the DFA to implement a system wherein senior citizens may renew their passports through the use of available technology without the need for a personal appearance, as well as granting the senior citizens and persons with disabilities a 50% discount on the fees for the processing, issuance, or replacement of a passport.  

The measure also requires the creation of three different passport databases: 

• a database containing all current and previous passport and travel document records of Filipinos and recognized alien residents;
• a watchlist database containing names of persons whose passport applications have been denied or their passports revoked, as well as persons found to have committed committed or attempted to commit passport-related offenses; and
• a database containing information on passports and travel documents of persons who declared that their passports or travel documents have been lost or stolen.

Further, the bill mandates that the DFA should use 50% of the current fees relating to passport services for the improvement of DFA passporting and consular services. 

Prohibitions in House Bill 6510 include:

• illegally withholding a passport and the forging of visas and entry documents as passport related offenses, and provides penalties therefor;
• issuance, forgery, and improper use of passports and travel documents; and
• multiple possession of passports.

The bill imposes the maximum penalty of six years imprisonment and a P2-million fine when offenses are committed by a large-scale syndicate. — BM, GMA Integrated News