NBI’s online registration doesn’t work

Past experiences of attempts to get NBI clearance vary. There were times when it took a whole day. Twice I managed to spend less than five minutes in line. Once, because of a smudge in my form, I got jumped to the front of the line. 

Friends told me that the online system that was in place last year meant that you could get your clearance in less than half an hour. 

 

I had heard about the recent problems in getting NBI clearance. At the start of this year it seems they reverted to old systems or chucked out what was once an efficient system. The motivations behind removing an efficiently running system and replacing it with a new one, I don’t know. Then again who are we to even begin to fathom the decision-making process that our government agencies employ? 

 

I waited about a month before attempting to get my clearance. I assumed that maybe they would get things sorted. I mean, really, so many people need the paper, it’d make sense that moves would be made to address the problem.

There were press releases about the new online system. I thought, sure why not give it a try? If the old online system worked, then maybe this should too.

 

The idea is that by filling out forms online you bypass a number of steps. By skipping those steps you can get your clearance faster. In the older system, all you had to do was show up, show the printed version of your form, and you were in and out. 

 

I filled out the form online. It took me a few minutes. It asked me to provide some personal information. I finished that in less than five minutes. The next instruction was to go to any of the 55 satellite branches with a printed copy of the form. 

 

There’s a listing of the 55 branches. I found a problem with the listing, but that could be fixed with a few tweaks. Rather than having a static listing that you can scroll through, what you get is a scrolling listing on the NBI’s landing page. You can’t control how the list scrolls and you can’t click on a branch or click onto a link to get the full listing. I would much prefer a full list that is static so that I can read through it at my own pace and find which branches are my best options. 

 

That scrolling list was the least of my worries. 

 

When I arrived at the NBI branch at Robinson’s Galleria right after lunchtime I was turned away. I said that I had done the online registration and that I had the printed form. The guards who were handling people told me that it didn’t matter. Whether you did online registration or not, you have to get in the same line as everyone else. The online registration lets you skip processing steps, but everyone has to line up just the same. 

 

I talked to some of the people in line who had also been turned away. They said that they were at the main branch of the NBI and had been told to go to another branch because the main branch was incapable of handling so many applicants for clearance. 

 

They headed to the Galleria branch with high hopes. These were, of course, quickly dashed. 

 

Another person who had been in line by 7 a.m., reported that by 9 a.m. there were a thousand people in line. When the numbers for processing were distributed, the people found out that the branch could only process 400 people per day. So obviously my showing up after lunch was pointless. 

 

A friend of mine said that he was in line a half hour after midnight to get his clearance. He spent the whole night on the overpass outside Robinson’s Metro East. He managed to be number 45 in the line. That’s insane! 

 

The NBI clearance is a requirement for many important things. If it weren’t people wouldn’t go through such hell to get it. But the question is, can’t there be a system that doesn’t put people through hell?

 

Of course while going through all this angst I was muttering about being a taxpayer and wondering where my tax money goes. We pay taxes in exchange for government services. I though I was the boss? What’s up with this kind of treatment? When people have to spend the equivalent of a workday in line for a piece of paper that certifies that they aren’t a criminal, there’s a problem. 

 

I think that the government needs to start working on flowcharts. Make these flowcharts readily available online and posted very large in each office. These should outline the various processes. Add onto that the requirements that you need. So when you go there, you know what you need for each step so that you can progress to the next one. Even better, put estimated time of completion for each step. 

 

I understand that the government’s agencies are making attempts to improve. There are a number who have already gotten their system down. But it all should be better, and it all should happen sooner. The insane lines which are justified with, “E ganyan talaga,” should not be acceptable. 

 

I am sure that no big boss politician or high ranking government official would be willing to subject themselves to what my friend went through, sleeping on the overpass and waiting eight hours in line. They wouldn’t subject their spouses or kids to it either. So why are they willing to ask us to do it? — KDM, GMA News