Philippines still on weaker half of most powerful passport lists

SHARES

By: Kristine Joy Patag (philstar.com) 

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine passport has moved two spots higher but remains in the lower half of the latest world’s most powerful passports rankings.

The Philippines moved from the 72^nd spot to the 70^th in the latest Henley Passport Index released on May 22.

The list ranked 199 passports from one to 100 according to the freedom they allow their holders to travel visa-free to up to 227 different travel destinations—including countries, territories and micro-states.

image: https://media.philstar.com/images/the-philippine-star/infographics/20180524/powerful-passport.jpg

The Philippines shared the 70^th spot with Azerbaijan, the Dominican Republic and Tunisia. A Philippine passport holder now has visa-free access to 66 countries, three more compared to the index released in January.

Japan emerged as the most powerful passport allowing visa-free entry to 189 destinations.

Germany and Singapore shared the 2^nd spot as their passport holders could visit 188 destinations without a visa. Singapore is the only Southeast Asian country to land a spot on the five most powerful passports list.

Ranking 3^rd were passports from Finland, France, Italy, South Korea, Spain and Sweden which could freely enter 187 destinations. 

Meanwhile, Afghanistan and Iraq ranked as the least powerful passports at the 100^th spot as they allow visa-free access to only 30 destinations.

Southeast Asian rankings

The Philippine passport fell to the 7^th spot compared to its Southeast Asian neighbors.

LIST: Where you can travel visa-free with a Philippine passport

Indonesia, meanwhile, is the biggest gainer in the region as it jumped 12 spots to 67^th from 79^th in the 2017 global rankings.

Malaysia followed Singapore as the second most powerful passport in the region as it allows visa-free access to 180 countries.

Brunei, Timor Leste and Thailand landed the 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th spot, respectively.

Meanwhile, Myanmar ranked the lowest, granting visa-free access to 48 countries only.

image: https://media.philstar.com/images/the-philippine-star/infographics/20180524/powerful-passport-southeastasia.jpg

The Henley Passport Index is a ranking of all the passports of the world according to the number of countries their holders can travel to visa-free.

The ranking is generated from exclusive data of the International Air Transport Association, which maintains the world’s largest and most comprehensive database of travel information.

Read more at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/05/24/1818250/philippines-still-weaker-half-most-powerful-passport-list#kOigKbbuZ1ARhpDv.99

Cayetano Pushes for Longer Philippine Passport Validity

Office of the Senator

Alan Peter S. Cayetano

Rm. 602 GSIS Complex Senate of the Philippines Roxas Blvd Pasay City

         

PRESS RELEASE

04 October 2016

Cayetano pushes for longer PH passport validity

Calls for a hassle-free passport application process

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano is pushing for the establishment of a seamless and hassle-free processing of passports for Filipinos here and abroad.

The senator on Tuesday (October 4) expressed his support to lengthen the validity of Philippine passports from five to ten (10) years. Cayetano chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which conducted its first public hearing on the proposed measures to extend the validity of passports.

This proposal is in line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s earlier directive to amend Republic Act No. 8239, otherwise known as the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, which sets the validity of passports to five years.

The President, in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), lamented how Filipino passport applicants have to endure long lines or even stay overnight as the government can only cater to a limited number of applicants per day.

The senator stressed the need to simplify the application system in order to ease the people’s burden of having to renew their passports every five years, and to prevent backlogs and delays in the issuance of passports.

“We’re here to have the first low-lying fruit output from the legislative and the executive, which is the issuance of passports – how to make it easier,” Cayetano said.

The senator also stressed the need to make the passport application process easier for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and other marginalized groups, including Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and senior citizens.

“OFWs, PWDs, and senior citizens should be given priority, not because they want special treatment, but because they have special needs,” Cayetano explained.

Cayetano said OFWs in particular should be given priority because any delay in the processing of their travel documents could cost them their jobs abroad.

He said he plans to visit the one-stop center for OFWs located in Clark, Pampanga in November to see how the systems and services can still be improved to address migrant workers’ concerns.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay also backed the proposal to extend the validity of Philippine passports. “Let me just say that the Department of Foreign Affairs has no objection to the proposal to increase the validity of passport from five years to 10 years,” he said during Tuesday's hearing. #

CAPTION:

Tuesday (October 4) - Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano leads the first public hearing on proposals to extend the validity of Philippine passports from five to ten years. The senator is pushing for the establishment of a hassle-free application process to prevent delays and ease the burden of Filipino passport applicants.#