Press Release
May 31, 2017

SENATE RATIFIES BILL STRETCHING DRIVER'S LICENSE VALIDITY TO 5 YEARS

The Senate today unanimously voted to ratify a measure that seeks to extend the validity of drivers' licenses to five years, may grant responsible drivers without any violation a 10-year validity and penalize prohibited acts attendant to the issuance of the license.

"We passed this measure to incentivize our drivers, cut red tape, and make it easier to apply for a license; in return for the privilege, they need to follow the law and be qualified in order to get the full advantage that this law will bestow upon them," said Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services and bill sponsor.

The measure will be forwarded to Malacañang for the President's signature.

The enactment of the measure is necessary to amend the present law and institutionalize such policy since Administrative Order No. 2016-34 issued by the Land Transportation Office that prescribes five-year validity for drivers' licenses cannot amend the law.

Upon effectivity of the measure, the validity of a driver's license will 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 upon renewal.

Earlier on Wednesday, lawmakers from the Senate and the House of Representatives hammered out differences in Senate Bill No. 1449 and House Bill No. 5648. Both panels agreed that the penalty of removal from service shall be imposed only on public officers guilty of gross negligence.

Both panels agreed to also impose a fine of P20,000 for willful misrepresentation, connivance with the officer, falsification of documents and cheating during examinations for applicants, and shall be prohibited from applying for a period of two years.

Under the measure, a license will be revoked for four years in case where the driver is involved in the death or physical injuries resulting in the loss of any part of victim's body, insanity, imbecility, impotence or blindness or incapacity to work, upon finding by a court that the driver was negligent or at fault.

An online process for the renewal of professional and non-professional licenses should be up and running within one year from the effectivity of the law. For the initial application, the applicant must apply in person at any LTO offices nationwide.

Local government units, the Metro Manila Development Authority and other agencies issuing traffic violation receipts are required to report within a reasonable time the details of the traffic violation to the LTO, which shall be the repository of all traffic violation records.

Poe said a longer validity period for non-professional and professional drivers' licenses is important to save undue costs on the part of drivers who no longer have to renew their licenses every three years, even as the demand and applications for drivers' licenses exponentially increased over the years.

The senator also said that there will be no additional fees in the application with a provision in the measure that the license fees "shall not cost more than the government's procurement expense," effectively restricting LTO's control against raising fees arbitrarily.

There are an estimated four million driver's license applicants that translate to about P1.8 billion in revenues for the LTO.

The measure seeks to amend Section 23 of Republic Act No. 4136, as amended by Batas Pambansa Blg. 398 and Executive Order No. 1011 or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code.

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