The new NBI clearance satellite office in Cebu is located at the second floor of the Insular Square Mall in Barangay Basak, Mandaue City.
CDN PHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) opened its fourth clearance satellite office in Cebu at the Insular Square Mall in Barangay Basak, Mandaue City, on Friday, to cater to north Cebu clients.
NBI Director Dante Gierran said opening more satellite offices is also expected to decongest their head office in Manila and their Central Visayas office located in Cebu City from those who crowd these places for clearance issuance.
He said that around 500 clearance applicants crowd their head office each day.
The number of clearance applicants is expected to further increase since the NBI clearance is a requirement in job and passport applications among others.
Gierran said that having their satellite offices in malls is also expected to give the transacting public convenience and they can save on time that they will have to spend in traveling to the NBI-7 office in Cebu City.
The NBI director was the guest of honor during the opening of their Mandaue City satellite office held on Friday morning that was also attended by Atty. Patricio Bernales Jr., the NBI-7 director.
Other guests were Atty. Jojo Yap, NBI Information and Communications Technology Division head, and Frederick Lim and Michael T. Lim, who are the vice president and managing director respectively of A. Lim Development Inc.
The newest NBI satellite office located at the second floor of the Insular Square Mall opens from Mondays to Fridays.
Other NBI-7 satellite offices are located at the Robinsons Cybergate Cebu Mall and Shopwise in Barangay Pardo, Cebu City, and the J Centre Mall in Mandaue City, said Bernales.
NBI satellite offices at the Cybergate Mall and J Centre Mall are open during mall hours from Mondays to Fridays while the one at Shopwise in Barangay Pardo is open from Tuesdays to Saturdays.
He said that their Shopwise satellite office is able to entertain 150 clearance applicants per day.
Bernales said that they will continue to scout for suitable locations for the opening of more NBI-7 satellite offices in the coming months.
He said they are now considering satellite offices in Borbon town in north Cebu and in Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental.
A long-term plan is the opening of e-clearance centers in Central Visayas.