MANILA (UPDATE) – President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law measures extending the validity of passports from 5 to 10 years and lengthening the validity of the driver’s license to 5 years from the current three years.

Duterte on Wednesday signed Republic Act 10928, an act extending the passport validity and amending section 10 of Republic Act 8239 or the Passport Act of 1996.

Under the amendment, passports will be valid for 10 years except for minors, whose travel document will still have a validity of 5 years.

Duterte also signed Republic Act 10930, which extends the length of the driver's license’s validity to 5 years.

The law amends Section 23 of RA 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, which set a three-year validity for the license.

Under the law's Section 23, a driver holding a license with a 5-year validity may even be granted a license with a 10-year validity upon renewal if found that he or she has “not committed any violation of RA 4136 and other traffic laws, rules and regulations.”

This shall be subject to restrictions imposed by the Land Transportation Office.

The law also mandates the establishment of stricter rules before the issuance of driver’s licenses.

“The LTO shall promulgate prerequisites and guidelines before the grant of drivers’ licenses to ensure that these are issued only to deserving applicants with sufficient driving skills,” the law reads.

It also introduced a new provision penalizing persons who violate rules on the issuance of drivers’ licenses.

A fine of P20,000 shall be imposed on a driver’s license applicant if found to have misrepresented material information in his or her application, connived with the officer in the irregular conduct of examinations or issuance of license, falsified documents, or cheated during examinations.

The laws shall take effect 15 days after publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

READ THE NEWLY SIGNED LAWS BELOW:

Passport validity extension

Driver's license validity extension