Guevarra hits PNP clearance for DOLE transactions

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday questioned a proposal by the Philippine National Police to require a national police clearance for transactions with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

“Although it’s not illegal per se to require a police clearance for certain public transactions, the question is, is it necessary for a particular type of transaction with DOLE? What purpose will it serve? Does it add to red tape? These are policy, not legal, questions,” he told reporters in a Viber message.

Guevarra’s statement came after PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas wrote a letter to DOLE Secretary Silvestre Bello III to ask him to make the National Police Clearance System (NPCS) one of the requirements in transacting with the labor department.

The PNP did not elaborate on the type of transactions that would require the national police clearance.

The Associated Labor Union (ALU) said the proposal threatens industrial peace and would impose an additional burden on workers.

The proposed police clearance in DOLE transactions would “drive away those seeking redress in DOLE’s conciliation, mediation and dispute resolution and workplace inspection processes and many other services of DOLE and its attached agencies,” ALU vice president Gerard Seno said in a statement.

Bello said he has ordered consultations with the labor and business sectors as well as with the Department of Trade and Industry. – Mayen Jaymalin