Senate TWENTIETH CONGRESS } P Offier of the sorcretary REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES First Regular Session } 26 MAY 25 P3:33 SENATE RECEIVED BY: SENATE BILL No. 2155 INTRODUCED BY SENATOR VICENTE C. SOTTO III AN ACT UNIFYING THE NATIONAL POLICE CLEARANCE SYSTEM AND NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION CLEARANCE SYSTEM, CREATING THE UNIFIED CRIMINAL CLEARANCE SYSTEM DATABASE, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. EXPLANATORY NOTE It has been nine (9) years since we passed the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007. It has even went through a thorough amendment in 2018 to keep up with the changing times. However, our citizens still go through a lot to obtain government IDs, permits, certifications, and clearances. Most of our fellow Filipinos spend at least one (1) day just to process a specific government requirement. Our citizens are still victims of the tedious bureaucratic systems. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Clearance and the Philippine National Police Clearance (Police Clearance) are among the required documents a Filipino must obtained prior to employment, travel, business registration, among other government and non-government transactions. This is to prove that the individual does not have any outstanding warrant or proving the existence of any criminal record against him or her. While they have several differences, the similarities are striking and the redundancy is evident. Given the importance of these clearances, every Filipino goes through the burden of obtaining them. The time, money, and other resources spent queuing and processing could have been used elsewhere. The unification of the PNP Clearance System and the NBI Clearance System into a Unified Criminal Clearance System will help our fellow countrymen, not only will help remove another red tape, but will also centralize the criminal clearance database for our law enforcement agency for a more efficient and accessible implementation of their mandate. In view thereof, immediate approval of this bill is requested. VICENTE C. SOTTO III
Senate Office of the Secretary TWENTIETH CONGRESS OF THE } REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES } First Regular Session } 26 MAY 25 P3:33 SENATE S.B. No. 2155 RECEIVED BY: INTRODUCED BY SENATOR VICENTE C. SOTTO III AN ACT UNIFYING THE NATIONAL POLICE CLEARANCE SYSTEM AND NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION CLEARANCE SYSTEM, CREATING THE UNIFIED CRIMINAL CLEARANCE SYSTEM DATABASE, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. Be enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
SECTION. 1 Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Unified
2 Criminal Clearance System."
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the
State to ensure efficient delivery of government services to its citizens and the streamlining of procedures and requirements necessary for business and nonbusiness transactions in the government. To this end, the State shall maintain a unified system for related information to curtail redundant government clearances with the ultimate goal of reduction of red tape within the bureaucracy.
SEC 3. Creation of the Unified Criminal Clearance System.
Database. - The Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) shall, in coordination with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), create a central database of all criminal records and cases, active warrants, local and national blotters, biometric data, and other applicable information relative to the issuance of a clearance.
SEC. 4. Unified Criminal Clearance. - For purposes of employment
(local or overseas, travel, business transactions, issuance of permits, and all other purposes which require an NBI or Police Clearance, a Unified Criminal Clearance shall be issued by the NBI or PNP through their respective clearance centers. The Unified Criminal Clearance issued by either NBI or PNP shall suffice the requirement of a clearance without the necessity of obtaining separate clearances from both agencies.
It shall be unlawful for any person, both juridical or natural, public or 2 private, to require the submission of separate clearances from the PNP or NBI.
SEC. 5. Implementing Agency. - The NBI, in coordination with the
4 PNP, shall be the main implementing agency for the creation and maintenance 5 of the Unified Law Enforcement Clearance System Database.
SEC. 6. Funding. - The funding necessary for the implementation of
7 the Unified Law Enforcement Clearance System Database shall come from the 8 General Appropriations Act.
SEC. 7. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part of this Act is
held unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full force and effect.
SEC. 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The NBI, in
coordination with the PNP and the DICT, shall, within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act, promulgate the rules and regulations necessary for the effective implementation of this Act.
SEC. 9. Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential decrees, executive
orders, letters of instructions, administrative orders, rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.
SEC. 10. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Approved,