NBI Clearance - Mandaluyong

As with any pre-employment procedures, I am required to submit an original and valid NBI clearance. Of all possible requirements, I hated this one for the single thought of going to Carriedo and making my way through hundreds of people clamoring to get that sheet of paper. I have lost my personal copy from years back so I had to apply for a new one. I Googled for other areas/satellite offices that accept new applications and found out that Mandaluyong city hall has one (SM Megamall only accepts renewals).

Days and weeks went by gathering enough courage to do so, I finally went there today. I chose to go after lunch since most people would line up early in the morning hoping they'd finish early. From experience I've noticed that proceeding to government offices BEFORE they close would make you one of the few who are yet on the first steps of their procedure. Took a cab and asked around, I found the satellite office--more like a makeshift counter in the city hall grounds--and I can't make out what the first step was. There were none of those big signages telling you where the first steps were. In the middle of the waiting area (seats under a collapsible tent) I saw a table where fingerprinting ink was all over. On it was a small pail, yes a pail, with sheets of application forms. Then came the guy who's in charge of fingerprinting. After I filled out my form I approached him and he said, "limang piso". Despite the fact that I already brought my own pack of wipes I handed him the coin and proceeded with it.

Up in front of the cashier for payment, I was told I needed a cedula (community tax certificate). I had mine with me, but they needed one from Mandaluyong. Hmmm.. As far as i knew all I needed was a valid ID but anyhow I hesitantly paid twenty pesos for it. The cedula guy said "hmp walang kita" when I handed him exactly twenty pesos. Hmp back!

I returned to the cashier and paid P115 for the clearance and had my photo taken. The people at that "office" were rude, shouting at people who didn't know the procedure. I wanted to yell back at them for the sake of other people to tell them that they're so disorganized so how would the people know what exactly was the flow of the process. I was back at the waiting area when I heard someone shout at one of the applicants, "hoy kuya wag ka magsolo dyan dahil may nagpapafingerprint dyan hindi mo alam ginagawa mo". I looked around and saw that the fingerprint guy wasn't there. Finally he's back and he's lecturing newcomers too. He kept saying, "hindi pwedeng kayo kayo lang naggaganyan alam nyo namang may tao dito." A middle-aged woman wasn't able to contain herself and said back, "eh wala namang tao pano namin malalaman?"

And guess what the guy just kept shouting at how stupid the applicants were. Oh cmon! A handwritten instructions would have saved them a lot of trouble. So a note to everyone, yes you'd get it fast but they're rude!