Starting tomorrow NBI to use biometric system

CEBU, Philippines - Starting tomorrow, applicants for clearance at the National Bureau of Investigation-7 will no longer have their fingers tainted with ink as the agency starts to implement the Biometric Clearance System.

Aside from the new system, NBI-7 director Edward Villarta also said an applicant can get a clearance within five to 10 minutes, unlike the previous period of 10 to 15 days.

“We will have a dry run tomorrow. Wala nang finger printing, at mas mabilis kasi makukuha na ang clearance within ten minutes,” Villarta said.

The NBI issues clearances to job applicants and travelers certifying that they have no pending cases against them.

Villarta himself led yesterday the installation of seven new flat screen computers and biometric scanners they received from their main office in Manila.

They removed the two old (CTR) cathode ray tube monitor which they have only been using.

The cashiering, the digitized data (no longer paper-linked), the finger-printing through the biometric scanner, image capture, verification, and releasing of clearance are done within a ten-minute application, Villarta said.

Before, after image capturing, the documents are submitted to their main office in Manila for verification and are returned 10 to 20 days later, Villarta said.

Aside from that, the NBI-7 director said another computer monitor is set facing the applicants.

“So makikita nila kung ano ang ini-encode ng encoder. Makaka-notice sila kung may mali sa spelling ng pangalan or kahit ano. Unlike before na saka pa lang makikita ang wrong spelling if nakuha na ang clearance,” Villarta said.

Villarta said the long queue, as usual, would be the only thing that would delay an applicant from processing his or her clearance.

“Kasi marami talaga ang nag-a-apply. Everyday, we accommodate 1,000 to 1,300 applicants,” Villarta said.

With the new system, he said, they can accommodate up to 1,500 applicants a day.

Evelyn Hilaria, who is applying as a sales lady, was one of the hundreds of applicants who lined up yesterday to process her clearance through the manual system.

“Aw, mas maayo nang bag-ong system kay di na ta maghuwat pa og dugay kaayo usa makuha ang clearance. N’ya mas paspas pa gyud kay di na malangan inig fingerprint, dili pareha karon hasol kaayo. Ganina pa ko sayo sa buntag mingpila,” said Hilaria, an 18-year-old from Aloguinsan town.

The NBI shifted to the new clearance system after the contract of its former service provider, Mega Data Corp., expired on June 30.

Mega Data had provided the NBI with the equipment and database management system for clearance applications for the last 32 years.

The NBI contracted service provider Strategic and Comprehensive Consultants Inc., which is a joint venture of Real Time Data Management Services Inc., which won the awards from NBI Bids and Awards Committee. — (FREEMAN)