Firms urged to include nat’l police clearance in job requirements

Cascolan said the relocation of national police clearance desks in SM Malls, provides added convenience and ease of access to frontline PNP services, aside from decongesting PNP camps and installations. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)

MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday urged all companies and business owners to include national police clearance (NPC) as a requirement for job applicants.

“The national police clearance should be part of (employment) requirements. It is very important aside from the clearance given by the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation). As I told you, their records show if one has pending cases but for us, it will show whether they have a warrant of arrest,” PNP chief, Gen. Camilo Cascolan, told reporters on the sidelines of the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the PNP and the SM Supermalls for the establishment of NPC hubs in selected SM malls.

This came as some companies require employees to submit NBI clearance but do not ask for NPC as part of job requirements.

Cascolan, however, said he is open to the idea of a unified clearance for the PNP and the NBI.

“Pag-aaralan po natin nang mabuti (We will carefully study) if we really have to combine. There is no competition here. But obviously, their system is different from ours,” he said.

Cascolan and SM Prime Holdings president Jeffrey Lim signed the MOA at the Government Services Express, 2nd Floor North Parking Building of the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Cascolan said the relocation of national police clearance desks in SM Malls, provides added convenience and ease of access to frontline PNP services, aside from decongesting PNP camps and installations.

“This is the mall. obviously, there are a lot of people going in and out and the only way that we would be able to ease the crowd in our stations would be one push out our clearance offices so that we would be able to give much more importance to those who are applying for clearances,” Cascolan said.

Coinciding with the ceremonial printing of the National Police Clearance (NPC), Cascolan said the agreement will operationalize the police clearance booths in SM malls to serve better the Filipino people.

Within a month, the PNP, thru the efforts of the PNP Center for Police Strategy Management (CPSM), completed all operational and documentary requirements with the SM Supermalls management as part of the PNP’s stronger partnership with various stakeholders.

After the completion phase of the first police clearance desks in SM MOA, the PNP and SM Management are also eyeing pilot branches in SM Southmall, SM North EDSA, SM Bacoor, SM Pampanga, SM Cabanatuan, SM Cebu, and SM Cagayan de Oro.

Present during the ceremonial signing and launching of the facility were Director for Investigation and Detective Management, Major General Marni Marcos; Acting Director for Police Community Relations, Brigadier General Rhodel Sermonia; and CPSM Director, Brigadier General Rhoderick Armamento.

Meanwhile, Shopping Center Management Corp. President Steven Tan and SM Mall of Asia Mall Manager, Amy Gonzales, also witnessed the event.

In 2018, the PNP launched the National Police Clearance System (NPCS), a centralized database containing all records/cases from different towns and cities all over the country, aimed at strengthening the police force’s capability to check criminal records.

Before the NPCS, police clearance is only issued by local police and can only identify cases filed in the specific area where it is issued.