Bills filed on rebels amnesty, 10-year passport validity

Lawmakers immediately went to work in filing several bills in line with President Duterte’s requests in his State of the Nation Address last Monday.

Former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo filed a bill seeking the grant of amnesty to leaders and members of the local communist movement and others involved in “past political conflicts.”

“Accepting rebels back into the fold of the law through amnesty and eventually providing them access to the government’s existing socio-economic services are essential to attain- ing peace and reconciliation in the country,” Arroyo said in House Bill 490.

She said an amnesty program should be an integral component of the Duterte government’s comprehensive peace efforts.

Arroyo’s bill was similar to Presidential Proclamation 1377 she issued in 2007.

Aside from the proposed amnesty grant, Arroyo has filed bills supporting Duterte’s legislative priorities.

In the Senate, lawmakers led by Sen. Cynthia Villar filed a bill calling for the extension of the validity of Philippine passports from five to 10 years.

Sen. Paolo Aquino IV has proposed the creation of a government efficiency office to end overlapping regulations from various government agencies.

Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara has filed a bill creating the state-owned Mindanao Railways Corp.

Villar filed Senate Bill 324 seeking to amend Republic Act 8239 of the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, which established the guidelines for the application and issuance of passports.

Villar said increasing the validity of passports would lessen the frequency and volume of applications for renewal and consequently, reduce, if not eliminate, the long queues at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) offices.

Under the proposal, regular passports issued to adult applicants will be valid for a period of 10 years, while those regular passports issued to minors shall be valid for a period of five years.

The bill also authorizes the DFA, at its discretion, to decrease the period of validity in both instances whenever national economic interest or political stability of the country warrants it.

Aquino filed Senate Bill 348 or the proposed Government Efficiency Office ( GEO) Act of 2016 to end what he said were lengthy, complicated and overlapping regulations from various government agencies that “result in costly and time consuming processes that have inconvenienced far too many Filipinos for too long.“

“Obtaining government IDs, paying taxes, requesting for necessary permits and other dealings with government leaves citizens frustrated, often pushing them to find extrajudicial avenues to fulfill requirements,” he said.

In case of businesses, Aquino said obtaining each necessary permit involves up to 30 steps, aside from 47 tax payments to make each year, which consume an average of 193 business hours.

To do away with regulatory barriers, the measure seeks the creation of a special arm under the Office of the President that will be tasked to ensure efficiency in the existing and proposed regulations across government agencies.