MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police is expanding its national police clearance system to more malls to make it more convenient for the public to get documents certifying they are not implicated in crimes.
At the flag-raising ceremony at the PNP headquarters in Quezon City, Police Gen. Rodolfo Azurin announced that the police force is signing memoranda of agreement with mall operators SM Supermalls and CityMall Commercial Centers, Inc. to put up clearance centers in more SM malls and in all CityMalls.
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Azurin said this will allow the public to get their police clearances — a requirement for most job and some school applications as well as for some government transactions — at a "more convenient time and location."
He added the support of mall management "will surely strengthen the succesful implementation of this endeavor in accordance with our shared commitment of ensuring efficient service delivery towards every Filipino."
The expansion of the police desks with SM also includes putting up satellite offices for the processing of gun licenses and registration, neuropsychiatric and drug tests as well as those related to the private security industry.
SM Supermalls has 119 malls across the country, including those in SM Development Corp. residential developments. According to its website, CityMall had "a total of 47 site locations for CityMalls and is currently building out 25 CityMalls simultaneously" as of May 2016.
STORY FROM 2019: The PNP will have a National Police Clearance System in October. Here’s what you need to know.
Although police clearances are needed for many public transactions, the PNP's Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management told a House panel in 2022 that "the issuance thereof, however, the same has no impact, if not little impact, on the primary mandate of PNP to maintain peace and order, to ensure public safety and improve resolution efficiency."
Also launched at the flag-raising ceremony was the PNP's Digital Booking System, which Azurin said would "fully digitalize the booking process of arrested persons" and make fingerprint matching faster and more efficient. He said that digitalization of police records would "further increase [the PNP's] crime solution efficiency."