DFA plans to extend validity of green passports

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is planning to extend the validity of the old, green, and “non-machine readable” passports due to irregularities in the machine-readable passport system.

Sources said the DFA is now seeking the permission of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to extend the five-year validity of the old green passports to avoid a likely passport crisis.

The source said interim measures are needed because of the “sudden upsurge in passport renewals and the increased demand for Philippine passports.”

Sources in the DOJ and other government agencies expressed concern over the proposal, saying that such a move would be a step backward considering that the Philippines was trying to comply with an international deadline for countries to adopt machine-readable passports to fight international human smuggling and terrorism.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) gave member nations until 2010 to adopt machine-readable passports.

Documents obtained by The STAR showed that the DFA, through Undersecretary Franklin Ebdalin had sought a legal opinion from the DOJ last April 9, 2008, on a proposal to extend the validity of the old passports and even renew or revalidate expired passports.

“The department would like to seek your office’s opinion on the proposal to extend the validity of regular passport as an interim measure to deal with the sudden upsurge of passport renewals and the increased demand for Philippine passports,” Ebdalin said in the letter.

“In view of the Philippine Passport Act’s (Republic Act 8239) silence on the possibility of extending the regular passport’s validity, the Department’s Office of Legal Affairs is of the opinion that such extension may be given due course without necessarily violating the provisions on RA 8239,” Ebdalin said.

To justify the extension of the validity of expired passports, Ebdalin said that RA 8239 merely said that a new passport “may” be issued to replace expired passports.

Ebdalin cited Section 10 of the law, which stated that “a new passport may be issued to replace one which validity has expired.”

“While the above-cited provisions of RA 8239 do not expressly provide for the extension of the validity of regular passports beyond five (5) years, neither do the provisions prohibit such extension,” Ebdalin said.

 “Moreover, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs or any of his authorized consular officers may renew of revalidate passports which have already expired or the validity of which have already elapsed with respect to diplomatic and official passports,” Ebdalin further argued.