Cebu mayors push for local issuance of police clearance

CEBU, Philippines —  Some Cebu municipal mayors sought the help of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to convince the Police Regional Office-7 to allow the issuance of local police clearances in their respective police stations.

The initiative they are pertaining to is the Philippine National Police Memorandum Circular (PNP MC 2022-049) issued on April 18, 2022 entitled, "Revised Guidelines and Procedures in the Implementation of the National Police Clearance System (NPCS)."

The mayors, led by Daanbantayan Mayor Sun Shimura as president of the League of Municipalities in the Philippines-Cebu Chapter, cited the recent initiative on issuing only a national police clearance in selected areas as adding financial burden to their people.

Shimura said they had discussed the problem with other municipal mayors and decided Garcia, as the chief executive of the entire Cebu Province, could have a better solution.

The national implementation of the NCPS was dated back to 2018.

A police clearance costing around P160 serves various administrative purposes and applications in public and private transactions, which sometimes serves as one of the primary requirements for job applications and some government transactions, and for foreigners seeking local employment and business operations.

Under the memorandum, all police stations not yet equipped with the NCPS should refer those applying for police clearance to the nearest NCPS-enabled police stations.

All police stations are discouraged from releasing a local police clearance through a third-party service provider at the provincial or city headquarters, and those stations which disobey will be dealt with by the law accordingly.

Shimura cited that for Daanbantayan and its neighboring municipalities, such as Sta. Fe, Bantayan and Madridejos in Bantayan Island, this means people would need to travel to Bogo City to process their police clearances.

For people in Sogod town, northern Cebu, and its neighboring areas, this would mean that they need to travel to Danao City to secure an NPC.

"Hasol kaayo sa atong nga tawo especially kami sa district naa baya mi isla. Amoa P150 Daanbantayan to Bogo from Bantayan to Bogo naas mga P600 siguro kay ang lantsa gud daan tag P200 to P300 plus mobiyahe plete pa for San Remigio going to Bogo going back moplete kag mga P600 to P800," said Shimura.

Shimura said Garcia would call for a meeting with the PRO-7 and the LMP members as soon as two weeks from now to discuss and bring a solution to it. — GMR  (FREEMAN)