New license cards for motor vehicles (File photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Senator Grace Poe elevated to the floor on Monday a bill extending the validity of driver’s licenses from the current three years to five or even up to 10 years for those who have not committed traffic violations.
As chair of the Senate committee on public services, Poe presented in the plenary Senate Bill No. 1449 or “An Act Extending the Validity Period of Driver’s Licenses” and sought for its immediate approval.
The measure is a substitute of Senate Bill Nos. 271, 941 and 1224 filed separately by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Senators Richard Gordon, Joseph Victor Ejercito and Joel Villanueva.
“Extending the validity of a driver’s license is a commonsensical idea that should have been done a long time ago. Hindi lang makakaiwas sa trapik at sa pagpila nang mahaba ang ating mga kababayan na nangangailangang mag-renew, pero nakakaiwas din sila sa red tape sa gobyerno,” Poe said in her sponsorship speech of the measure.
Although the Land Transportation Office (LTO) had already issued Administrative Order No. 2016-34 in line with the President’s pronouncements to extend the validity of driver’s licenses, the senator said an agency issuance could not amend a law.
“What Congress prescribes, only Congress can amend. Thus, while we commend the Executive branch for initiating the steps that will pilot the issuance of a five-year license, it is my position that passing this bill into law is definitely needed,”she said.
Once the bill is enacted into law, Poe said, the validity of a driver’s license would not just be extended from three years to five years “but those without infractions during those five years may also be granted a 10-year license.”
The senator said the measure also provides for an online application process for the renewal of professional and non-professional licenses.
Poe said the new license will also have better security features, and probably cheaper than the current fee of P820.
“Ngayon, kapag kinumpiska ng local government ang lisensya ng isang motorista na pasaway, gagawa lang affidavit of loss ang driver na iyun at makakakuha siya ng isa pang lisensya. So there are instances when one person has two licenses,” she said.
“With the new license, this will no longer be possible. The license will be connected to a system that will alert the LTO if the license was previously confiscated. This can be done through the biometrics feature of the card.”
Will the new driver’s license cost more? Poe said no.
“Baka bumaba pa. From the current fee of Php 820, the LTO is expected to charge only around Php 700 for the new cards,” she said.
Some may be apprehensive extending the validity of driver’s license to five years, considering that there are a lot of bad drivers out there, but Poe said the remedy had nothing to do with the period of validity of a driver’s license. She said the license could be revoked or suspended anytime by the LTO.
“The remedy is for the LTO to conduct better tests and implement training programs for motorists, especially those who drive public utility vehicles. These solutions, however, will be the subject of a different committee hearing, which I intend to hold,” Poe added./ac