Long lines at NBI for clearances due to new system

A long wait for a clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation used to be the fate only for job applicants who shared the same names as criminals and fugitives. Now everyone gets the same treatment. Lines snaking around NBI offices marked the the start of the agency's new Biometric Clearance System (BCS), implemented by a new contractor shadowed by questions about how it got the contract. According to Rey Esmeralda, NBI's deputy director for technical services, the peak season for processing clearances compounded the problem with the new system. "Peak season po talaga ngayon para sa clearance applications. That's normally in January and July," Esmeralda said in a phone interview with GMA News Online. The NBI official said that due to the influx of people at the NBI Clearance Center in Manila, they had to convert their gymnasium into a clearance processing center. "[Ang problema], 3,000 people lang ang capacity noon (gymnasium). Kanina, more than 3,000 na ang dumating," he explained. Esmeralda said the NBI's processing center at Ever Gotesco Grand Central in Caloocan already went online today, which could accommodate about 1,200 applicants. He added that additional processing centers will open soon in Ever Gotesco Recto and Commonwealth, on top of the five Robinson's malls and several LGUs currently in operation. Given that the new system—which started implementation on July 1—is still in its dry-run stage, Esmeralda said they are expecting operations to normalize within the next few weeks. "Pag nagbago ang sistema, may kaunting adjustments. In two weeks' time mag-stabilize na ang proseso, since we're on maximum rollout ng mga hardware at Internet connection," he added. Expired contract According to a report on GMA News' "News to Go," one of the reasons for the long lines at the NBI on Monday was the expiration of the contract of Mega Data Corp., the previous technology partner of the agency for clearance processing. Mega Data Corp., which had served the data processing needs of the NBI for more than 30 years, reportedly pulled out all its software and hardware equipment after their contract with the agency expired, which allegedly caused the processing bottleneck. In a separate interview on the same newscast, Mega Data spokesman John Garcia said that following the end of their six-year contract in 2009, the NBI was supposed to conduct a bidding for a new contract for the service. "Kami po ang service provider since then, tapos nagkaroon po ng failed bid na inannounce noong 2010," Garcia said. Because of the failed bid, the NBI decided to extend Mega Data's contract for another six months, until such time that a new service provider was supposed to have been chosen to take over. "Hindi po nangyari 'yun. In January, na-extend na naman po kami [hanggang] June 30. The NBI was supposed to have conducted a bidding to be able to get a [qualified] service provider. We were supposed to be one of the bidders pero hindi kami sinali," Garcia said. The company was allegedly excluded from the bidding due to some "legal infractions" that they had committed, Garcia said, but they were supposedly not told what these were. "We never even had a chance to know kung ano po talaga iyong specifics. They just said that we've committed legal infractions so we were not allowed to participate in their negotiated procurement," he claimed. Maximum extension But according to the NBI's Esmeralda, the bidding for the project has already been transferred to the Department of Justice's Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC), following consecutive failed bids in the past. He added that they could no longer extend Mega Data's contract for another six months because it was prohibited by the law. "According to the Procurement Act, the maximum extension of [contract] for a service provider is only one year. Alam nila 'yan," Esmeralda claimed. He likewise denied that they failed to communicate to Mega Data the reasons for the termination of their contract, saying that chief state counsel Ricardo Paras sent them a notice of termination of contract, informing them that the agency could not extend it anymore. "And even I in my capacity as the deputy director for technical services also sent them a letter," he added. On allegations that the NBI is favoring its new contractor for the biometrics system, Strategic and Comprehensive Consultants, Inc. (SCCI), because one of its owners is a former superior of NBI Director Magtanggol Gatdula at the Philippine National Police, Esmeralda said: "Itong SCCI is a corporation, marami ang may-ari niyan. Payagan natin na nandoon ang pangalan ni dating Gen. Jefferson Soriano." "Ang bidding process ay nasa DOJ, walang kontrol si Dir. Gatdula doon," he said. "Ang SBAC ng DOJ ay transparent, it's a collegial decision. Hintayin natin ang outcome ng bidding process sa DOJ." Esmeralda added that SCCI's contract with the NBI is only for the interim and until such time that they can get a full-scale service provider for their biometrics system. "Our contract with them is up to six months lang, this is an emergency situation. We cannot afford the stoppage of clearance processing," he stressed. Esmeralda added that Mega Data can participate in the bidding at the DOJ SBAC if they so wish. "We did not exclude Mega Data. I'm calling on [them] to join the bidding of the DOJ," he said. - HS, GMA News