Recto slams NBI’s slow clearance processing

MANILA, Philippines - Following reports that applicants are lining up outside the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters for hours each day, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto reminded NBI officials yesterday that they promised to process each clearance application in 10 minutes.

“When the NBI asked for a P940-million budget for this year, its officials promised to process NBI clearances in 10 minutes,” Recto said.

To address the gridlock at NBI, Recto recommended that the agency should ask employers to waive, or at least suspend, the submission of NBI clearance certificates by applicants or employees not holding sensitive positions.

He also told the NBI to fasttrack the procurement of computer hardware needed by regional, satellite and field offices for issuing clearances.

Recto said the NBI officials told Congress that in exchange for the P940-million budget, the agency will process half of the 5,354,000 clearance applications it will receive this year within 10 minutes.

The senator also noted that the NBI also vowed that 50 percent of applicants would rate its service as “satisfactory.”

Recto said it is too early to judge if the NBI can deliver on its promise. Those who have experience lining up before dawn at the NBI headquarters predict that the NBI will be unable to fulfill its claim.

“I sincerely hope that whatever delays in the processing of clearance at this stage are birth pains associated with the new system it is implementing because lining up from sunrise to sunset in getting a government document must never be allowed to become the new normal,” he said.