NBI fixers go high tech
Just when you thought going online to secure a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance could address the problem with fixers, you may have to think twice.
Fixers are back and, this time, armed with gadgets and a Wi-Fi connection.
Adapting to the changing times, fixers dupe clearance applicants with the use of tablets, laptops, and smart phones equipped with power banks.
Fixers brazenly display their gadgets, barking “online, online” near the bureau’s gates along Taft and United Nations Avenues, and showing placards with the words “Rush NBI online application with reference number” or “online NBI application” on them.
Once they catch an applicant’s attention, they will then explain that securing an NBI clearance is now done via the Internet and that they could help for a minimal fee of P40 to P50.
Fixers will offer to encode personal details – a process that anyone can do anywhere using smartphones, tablets, or computers – with a promise of a speedy release or a “no waiting in line” guarantee.
Here’s the catch: an online NBI clearance application is free.
Just read the tarpaulins on the NBI gates: “To all applicants of NBI clearance, we have free Wi-Fi inside the NBI clearance compound for you to do your online registration using your smartphones. We also have computers inside which you can use for free to do your online registration.” A Filipino version of the same notice is also available.
Real procedure
The NBI’s new “three-step” process in securing a clearance via the Internet is similar to the procedure for securing a passport online from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The applicant has to register online and set an appointment to pick up the NBI clearance. The applicant then pays at registered “bayad centers” or through their mobile phones, after which he or she will receive a receipt with a corresponding reference number.
During the scheduled appointment, the applicant is required to go to the nearest NBI office or clearance center for biometrics and photo capture.
“Biometrics and photo capture will take about five minutes. Then, that’s it. You can have your clearance already, provided you don’t have a hit,” said NBI public information chief Nick Suarez.
A “hit” is the NBI term for any pending criminal cases that would appear on the applicant’s records.
“Having a hit would really prolong the process,” he said.
Suarez also corrected reports that the bureau would no longer accept drop-in applicants, explaining that the online method is just an option and that the bureau’s offices, including its headquarters in Manila, will still entertain on-site applicants.