The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is aiming to roll out its next-generation Philippine passports by 2028.
DFA policy planning and coordination Assistant Secretary Robespierre Bolivar made this pronouncement at the House of Representatives appropriations committee hearing on the department’s 2027 budget.
‘We are hoping to redesign the passport booklet to make it fully compliant with ICAO and with enhanced security features, additional pages for a full 10-year validity and the latest contactless chip technology,’ Bolivar told lawmakers.
‘The estimated indicative launch of the next generation e-passport is June 2028, but over the next year, we would need to phase in the requirements we need for the rollout of the next generation passport,’ he noted.
DFA is seeking P35.173 billion for 2027, of which P5.8 billion will fund the next-generation passport program.
Earlier in the hearing, Bolivar reported that the agency issued around 1.57 million passports with at least 35 iterations of the department’s ‘Passport on Wheels’ program as of last August 31.
He also noted that the agency issued 67,697 visas and electronic visas; 413,597 apostille certificates and electronic apostille certificates; and 36,354 civil registry reports in 2026 so far, maintaining at least 42 consular offices nationwide