NBI Clearance Processing at the QC Hall Just Got Worse

What an exhausting day! I woke up at 6 a.m. today to get my NBI Clearance. My mom and I arrived at Quezon City Hall around 7 a.m. I don’t often go to the Quezon City Hall so I didn’t know that the NBI QC Satellite office has already moved to a new location (it is now infront of the Red Cross building). As it happens an office of the Quezon City Mayor is being built on the former location of the NBI QC Satellite office. Anyway, when we got to the NBI Satellite office there were already long lines. 

NBI Clearance

At first, it seemed that they have an organized process. There was even a friendly guard who had a microphone in his hand. On his other hand was an application form for the NBI Clearance. He was giving instructions to the people waiting on how to properly fill out the form. The guard had a funny way of giving instructions so he managed to make the people laugh (including me) inspite of the heat. :p

NBI Clearance

Even with such positive vibes it still took me more than an hour waiting in line just to get to the payments window. Since this was not my first time I already expected this. What I didn’t expect is that I would end up waiting for almost FIVE HOURS in line at the encoding window.

NBI Clearance

On the first hour of my five hour dilemma at NBI, the guard announced that the personnel at the encoding window will go on a thirty minute break. I heard a lot of groans from the people. It was just past 9 a.m. Everybody thought it’s rather unfair for the NBI employees to take a break while the rest of us are stuck in line. Lucky for me and my mom, we were already seated. Some people were still standing in line and some even under the glare of the hot sun. The guard even tried to add humor by saying, “Makipagkaibigan muna kayo sa mga katabi nyo habang naghahantay. Para magkakilala na kayo pag nagkita ulit kayo.”.

NBI Clearance

One hour has passed and the encoding window still hasn’t resumed operations. People are starting to get impatient. Finally, I heard from someone that the encoding had to be halted because the system crashed.  

NBI Clearance

NBI Clearance

NBI Clearance

Another hour passed. A lady in red spoke to the crowd of people waiting. She explained why the NBI couldn’t proceed their operations. According to her, they saw smoke coming from the Meralco post at the back of the NBI office. She said these are the Meralco lines shared by the NBI office and the Red Cross building that’s why they couldn’t proceed with the operations. People started complaining out loud, all talking at the same time. I can understand why. The people are tired and are already hungry since it was almost lunch time. I can feel myself growing impatient too but not because of the waiting. I blame the poor system they have. It is obvious they didn’t have any contingency plan to backup situations like this. They didn’t even bother informing the people right away. They didn’t seem to care that the people have been standing in long lines for hours now, soaked in sweat, hungry and most of them did not go to work to have their NBI Clearance processed. There wasn’t even a single electric fan where the people waited. I think they just deliberately forgot that these are the same people who pay taxes. Taxes which are supposed to fund the government operations.

NBI Clearance

On a lighter note, I admire how some people, no matter how frustrating the situation, still managed to crack jokes and make others smile or laugh. I guess it’s one of the positive traits of a Filipino. I just had to smile at what some guy shouted. He said, “Pag payments ang bilis nila”. Indeed, when I look at the Payments window, there were only a few people lined up (probably around five). And what’s funny about it is that it’s the only window operating! The other windows for encoding, photo/biometric, printing and releasing were all closed.

It was already past 1 p.m., there was still no announcement as to what exact time they will resume. Mom asked the personnel at one of the windows for an update, the only information she got was that the meter had to be replaced and that the Meralco maintenance will take place from 3  to 4 p.m. I told mom that we should just go back the following day because I no longer believe what they say. I don’t want to end up waiting and accomplishing nothing. When I left with my mom, my heart went out to the rest of the people who chose to wait. Most of them didn’t even go out for lunch. I’m guessing they were tight on a budget and didn’t want to spend. The least that the NBI office could have done was to give these people free water or meal. A situation like this would not have happened if the NBI QC Satellite officials had a contingency plan. It’s a clear negligence on their part. In fact If they had a generator, it would have made a difference. Everybody would gotten their NBI Clearance and would have gone home happy. I really hope the NBI QC Head Mr. Raul B. Angeles will do something about this.

Tips when applying for an NBI clearance (offline): Be at the NBI office on or before 6 AM. The office opens at 8 AM but as early as 6 AM (or even 5 AM) you will already find people in line. The earlier you get there, the earlier you will finish the process. The order of the booths is as follows:        APPLICATION FORM-> PAYMENT-> ENCODING-> BIOMETRIC/PHOTO-> RELEASING Bring at least one valid ID (SSS card, passport, driver’s license, etc.). You will need to show your valid ID and surrender the photocopy of the same ID to the person distributing the NBI clearance application form. In case you forget to bring a photocopy of the ID, there are available photocopy machines at the entrance of the NBI office. Although you will find vendors outside the NBI office selling ballpens and envelopes you can just bring your own ballpen to lessen your spending. Once you get your form, fill it out completely and fall in line at the payment booth. The fees that will be collected from you will  consist of the following: doc. stamp (15 PHP) and the clearance fee (100 PHP). In total, you will have to pay 115 PHP. Sleeveless tops are not allowed for the picture taking. If you plan to wear a sleeveless top, bring a blazer. Lastly, you will have to wait long in line (expect at least 2 hours) so charge your mobile phone and bring a hand fan, umbrella, bottle of water and snack.

Related articles:

• NBI Clearance Experience Cebu (timpotter-philippines.com)
• Applying for an NBI Clearance Online (tjarkforever.wordpress.com)

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