LONGER LICENSE VALIDITY HURDLES POE PANEL

Legislative proposals seeking to lengthen the validity of driver's licenses from the current three years to five years made headway as the measures cleared their first hurdle in the committee level, its chairperson Sen. Grace Poe announced today.

"There is no opposition to proposals to extend the validity of driver's licenses. This committee, therefore, approves in principle measures seeking to amend Republic Act No. 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, as amended by Batas Pambansa Bilang 398, extending the validity of all driver's licenses to five years," Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services, said in concluding the hearing on the Senate proposals.

After clearing the committee deliberations, Poe said her committee will now work on a final and consolidated bill which will be presented to the plenary soon.

"The proper thing to do is to pass a law amending the validity period of a driver's license," Poe said, adding that the same remedial approach is being applied in the case of the proposed ten-year validity of the passport which has already been approved by the Senate on second reading.

Poe expects swift approval of longer validity of licenses, saying "referring it to the plenary is a foregone conclusion and its approval, I can say with certainty, is a done deal."

Under Section 23 of Republic Act (RA) No. 4136 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, as amended by Batas Pambansa Bilang 398, all driver's licenses shall be valid for three consecutive years reckoned from the birthdate of the licensee, except for student permits and new licenses.

Poe said longer validity dates of driver's licenses "will save all the drivers in this land millions of man-hours otherwise spent in queuing to get the permit to operate a motor vehicle."

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) had issued Administrative Order No. 2016-034 last year in response to President Rodrigo Duterte's call for longer validity periods for driver's licenses and passports.

In view of the attendant issue as to the validity of an administrative order amending RA 4136, Poe believes that there is a need to pass a statute to institutionalize and legitimize the extension of the validity of the driver's licenses.

The rollout of the new driver's license is expected in August, LTO officials told the Senate committee.

During the hearing, Poe told LTO officials to ensure that only qualified and disciplined drivers are allowed to drive. The LTO said they are now in the process of revising the examination questions for license applications, especially for professional drivers.

The committee tackled Senate Bill Nos. 271, 941 and 1224 filed separately by Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto and Senators Richard Gordon and Joseph Victor Ejercito.