Lifetime validity of passport for senior citizens pushed

MANILA, Philippines – Senior citizens need not go through the process of renewing their Philippine passport if a bill filed by  Senator Lito Lapid is enacted into law.

Philippine passport

Lapid filed early this week Senate Bill No. 1197, granting lifetime validity of Philippine passports to senior citizens.

Under the   bill, new or renewed passports of Filipinos aged 60 years and above “shall have lifetime validity.”

“This proposed measure aims to further ease and give comfort to the lives of our senior citizens – by granting lifetime validity for Philippine passports issued or renewed in their favor from the age of sixty years (60) and above,” Lapid said in the explanatory note of the bill.

“Through this lifetime validity, our senior citizens are spared from the rigorous process and long lines often associated with passport application and renewal. This is also beneficial to senior citizens who live far away from city centers where DFA Consular Offices are usually situated,” he added.

Lapid noted the importance extended by the government to the elderly as shown by the “myriad of laws and policies” that are already in place for their benefit.

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“From retirement pensions to free medical assistance to discounts in goods and services to express lanes – the list of benefits afforded to them goes on in on. This is a reflection of the importance and significance we ascribed to our lolos and lolas who have worked for and took care of us during their prime years,” Lapid said.

“This is a way of giving back for their innumerable contributions to the family and to the community, as a whole,” he added.

GSG