Policy proposal on the integration of national bureau of investigation for more accountable public administration

making it more convenient for the employees of the institution and bringing the services closer and convenient to the
people.

INTRODUCTION
Brief History
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) saw its inception on November 13, 1936 upon approval of Commonwealth
Act No. 181 by the legislature which was then known as Division of Investigation. It was the brainchild of the late
President Manuel L. Quezon and Jose Yulo, then Secretary of Justice.
Tasked with organizing a Division of Investigation or DI patterned after the United States Federal Bureau of
Investigation were Thomas Dugan, a veteran American police captain from the New York Police Department and
Flaviano C. Guerrero, the only Filipino member of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Since then, the Bureau assumed an increasingly significant role. Thus, on June 19, 1947, by virtue of R.A. 157, it was
reorganized into the Bureau of Investigation. Later, it was amended by Executive Order No. 94 issued on October 4,
1947 renaming it to what it is presently known, the National Bureau of Investigation.
Objective
The main objective of the National Bureau of Investigation is the establishment and maintenance of a modern, effective
and efficient investigative service and research agency for the purpose of implementing fully the principal functions
provided under Republic Act No. 157, as amended.
Vision
To be a highly-professionalized institution committed to providing quality investigative and support services to serve the
ends of truth and justice.
Mission
To provide quality investigative and support services in the pursuit of truth and justice.
Functions
Under R.A. 157, as amended, the NBI is empowered to:
-investigate crimes and other offenses against the laws of the Philippines, both on its own initiative and as public
interest may require;
-assist, when officially requested, in the investigation or detection of crimes and other offenses,
-act as national clearing-house of criminal records and other information for use of all prosecuting and law enforcement
entities in the Philippines, of identification records of identifying marks, characteristics and ownership or possession of
all firearms and test bullets fired therefrom;
-give technical help to all prosecuting and law enforcement offices, agencies of the government, and courts which may
ask for its services
-extend its services in the investigation of cases of administrative or civil in nature in which the government is interested
-establish and maintain an up-to-date scientific crime laboratory and conduct researches in furtherance of scientific
knowledge in criminal investigation
-coordinate with other national or local agencies in the maintenance of peace and order
-undertake the instruction and training of a representative number of city and municipal peace officers at the request of
their respective superiors along effective methods of crime investigation and detection in order to insure greater
efficiency in the discharge of their duties.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE/JURISDICTION
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is a government entity that is civilian in character, and national in scope
which is under the Department of Justice. It is headed by a director and with an assistant director and six (6) deputy-
directors for - Special Investigation Services (SIS); Regional Operation Services (ROS); Intelligence Services (IS); Technical
Services (TS); Administrative Services (AS); and Comptroller Services (CS).

THE TWO PILLAR RULE
To keep the standard of professionalism in the investigation of cases THOROUGHNESS and LEGALITY has always been
adhered to by the NBI. The legality of the Bureaus activity is assured by its legal and Evaluation Division, which is tasked
with providing legal counsel to the Director, legal services to the Bureau, evaluate the investigation reports of the
agents, and conduct legal researches and studies.
The NBI Agents
Qualifications:
a. Member of Phil. Bar, of good moral, and of excellent physical and condition;
b. Ages between of 24 and 35 years, weight not less than 125 lbs. and at least 55 in height;
c. No derogatory record.
In some cases, Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) are also accepted in lieu of Lawyers.
Special Investigator
a. Four-year degree graduate
b. Civil Service Professional Eligible or Board Passer

FACTS
The NBI is well known to its very high standard when it comes to pursuing its mission which a quality investigative and
support services. Having that image, still the institution is being criticized specifically when it comes to frontline services
which every citizen is very much attached, the issuance of NBI clearance. For whatever transaction you have to undergo
both in government and private sector, such as job application, license application, benefit claims, insurances, permits,
etc., the presence of NBI clearance is inevitable. Without such document, your claims or requests could never be
processed nor be accepted.
The NBI clearance being used as the primary requirement in most of all institutions we have now in the country, be it in
public or private sector, makes the NBI always in demand to the people. Due to rapidly increasing population,
centralized form of government and manual processing of documents conditions we have, various complains about NBI
Clearance issuance have been thrown to the institution specifically for being too slow and inefficient services to the
clientele. Take for consideration the situation in Mandaluyong and Quezon City wherein the line starts before dawn and
tension started to risen since some of those who lined up were not given numbers. At a mall in Ortigas, the line
stretched all the way to the parking lot and some applicants have even taken into sleeping while waiting in line, to
mention a few.
Aside from that, even inside the institution, several complain were also found such us the very long and slow process of
releasing or transacting personnels documents. Such negative bureaucratic behaviour is almost present in all
government institutions which was due to the traditional norms of the employee inside the institution. The NBI
personnel, especially within the administrative services are still using the manual process in transacting documents. Take
for example, the Personnel Division, which is the Central Human Resource Management of the institutions nationwide.
All documents of the NBI personnel all over the Philippines are stored in that division using steel file cabinet which is
being manually subdivided using a file folder. The worst scenario here is when for example an employee will request a
copy of certain document such as the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth, the employee of Personnel Division
has to open those energy-loosing metal cabinets and look for each folder in order to verify or checked the record of
certain NBI Personnel.

ONCA (Online NBI Clearance Application)
There shall be an official website for NBI clearance application. All application for such shall be provided online or using
the internet wherein it shall be categorized into the nature of clearance a clientele is applying for such as:
a. Naturalization;
b. Cancellation of Alien Certificate of Registration (ACR);
c. Repatriation, Business Requirement;
d. Change of Name;
e. Permit to Carry Firearms;
f. Adoption;
g. NFA, POEA, PRA, SEC and others Institutions Requirement;
h. Travel Abroad;
i. Passport;
j. Local employment; and
k. Other Requirements,
for such clearances vary on their contents and purposes. This mechanism will also help the administrator of the system
to simplify the application by having it systematically categorized according to the nature of clearance being applied on.
The applicant shall fill out the form online, and upon its completion, the form will be submitted to the administrator of
the website. The administrator shall not accept the application if there was deficiency or wrong information that could
possibly be encoded in the application form. Prior notice, regarding the error, incompletion or any non-compliance on
the correctness of the data, shall be provided. The administrator shall not accept the submission of the application form
unless the Standard Operation Procedure is followed. Once the applicant has successfully applied for NBI Clearance, a
notice of appearance (NOA) to the NBI clearance releasing center shall be provided right after the application is
submitted. The following shall be the content of the NOA:
a. Requirements for Appearance (Any Valid I.D., Payment for the clearance and the NOA itself)
b. Date of Appearance
c. Transaction Number (associated with letter, eg. A- 001, B-012, C-057)
d. Control Number
e. Barcode
The NOA shall be barcode-protected in order to avoid the replication or to disallow the possible creation of fake NOA.
The control number will provide the distinction of every NOA and the transaction number will determine your sequence
in the line including the category which is based on the nature of the clearance that the applicant is applying for as
indicated using the letter written therein. For example, the NOA having a control number associated with letter (A) is
exclusively for the Naturalization Category. There shall also be a quota of 100 applicants per category. ( quota may vary
depending on the demand of the people)

Automated Recording System
This system is centered on the mechanism of recording all the documents especially in the administrative services using
a database. All documents, for example in the Personnel Division, shall no more be filed in the steel cabinet subdivide by
paper folders but rather be encoded in the computer which is stored in a database. All the documents in the database
shall be programmed to automatically back up in a hard drive installed or externally attached to the computer. Any
document that is prepared for filing or recording shall be done electronically. The document will be scanned, rather than
be photocopied, and will be saved in the database of the NBI. Whenever an employee requested for a copy of his/her
documents, the employee using the computer shall simply search for the Name of the requesting employee and hard
copy will be provided. In case of regional branches wherein an employee of NBI located at Batanes Brach for example
requested for a copy of Application for leave, the employee of the Personnel Division assigned to that purpose will
simply send the document requested thru e-mail.

CONCLUSIONS
The use of e-governance will absolutely help reduce the very long and slow process of government operation especially
on service delivery to the people. There will be no more infinity in the lines of NBI clearance releasing process since a
new mechanism will be applied which more favourable to the sake of the clientele. Little by little, the government
operations will shift into e-governance relying to the efficiency and effectiveness of using technology leaving the manual
process which have been a problem and center of complains and criticism very long time ago.