NBI opens mall clearance center in Mandaluyong

Residents of eastern Metro Manila who want their NBI clearances renewed, no longer have to go to the National Bureau of Investigation’s main office along Taft Avenue in Ermita, Manila.

With the inauguration of the NBI Clearance Renewal Center at the ground floor of SM Megamall Building B in Mandaluyong City yesterday, applicants now have the luxury of malling while waiting for the release of their NBI clearances.

The NBI Clearance Renewal Center, developed by Mega Data Corp., is the biggest center of the mall-based system, occupying a 31.69 square-meter area with four systems to accommodate the increasing number of renewal applicants. The center is expected to be able to process 2,400 renewals per day.

NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco anticipates the usual deluge of clearance applicants by January, but assured that the NBI Clearance Renewal kiosks in the malls and the satellite systems in Metro city halls will greatly reduce the number of applicants at the NBI head office.

Two other NBI Clearance Renewal Centers can be found at Park Square 1 in Ayala Center in Makati City and at the Ever Gotesco Grand Central Mall in Caloocan City.

Applicants just have to pay P100 and present their old clearances with the NBI bar code. Once validated, an operator takes a picture of the applicant, and presto, a new NBI clearance is issued.

However, in cases of namesakes of criminals and facial recognition mismatches, an applicant has to get his clearance at the NBI Main Office.

When Wycoco took over as NBI director, he mandated that clearances be released on the same day so that applicants would not need to come back on another day just to pick up their clearances, thereby declogging the NBI premises which normally receives 30,000 people daily. – Nestor Etolle