Bill extending driver’s license validity gets final reading approval

The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to extend the validity of driver’s license to five years from the current three years.

During plenary session, at least 221 members of the lower House approved on final reading House Bill 5648 seeking to rationalize and strengthen the policy on driver’s license by providing a five-year validity while penalizing violations of its issuance and application.

The bill seeks to impose penalties on an officer who issued a driver’s license without the necessary examination and who connived with the applicant for the irregular issuance of a license; and on an applicant who committed willful misrepresentation for submitting falsified documents and cheating in the exams.

The bill imposes a P200,000 fine on the applicant. The bill meanwhile penalizes an errant official with removal from the service and accessory penalties.

The final reading approval came just a week after the bill was approved on second reading.

Catanduanes Rep. Cesar Sarmiento as transportation committee chairperson sponsored the bill on the floor last Tuesday before the bill was eventually approved on second reading.

READ: House bill extending driver’s license validity hurdles 2nd reading 

The third and final reading approval usually follows the second reading approval before the bill is ratified and eventually forwarded to the President for approval.

In the Senate, a similar version of the bill is also a “done deal,” according to Senator Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate public services committee

READ: Poe: Senate OK on extending driver’s license validity a ‘done deal’ 

Sarmiento earlier said the consolidated substitute bill extending the license cards validity sought to streamline government transactions and to address public complaints on shortages of plastic cards, as well as legal issues hounding the procurement of license cards.

Extending the drivers’ license validity also intends to address the long lines of drivers seeking to renew their license cards, as well as to cut red tape in government, the lawmakers said. JE