Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III has thumbed down the request of the Philippine National Police to make the National Police Clearance a requirement in the various transactions of the Department of Labor and Employment.
In a letter to PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas, Bello said while the request may be good-intentioned, “requiring DOLE’s clientele to secure NPC to avail of our services will do more harm than good.”
NPC is a database aimed at streamlining the issuance of police clearances across the country.
Bello said DOLE stakeholders, based on a rapid survey conducted by the department, are opposed to the PNP request.
“It’s a form of red tape to all and an additional financial burden to many,” Bello added.
The labor chief said making the NPC mandatory is not aligned with the policy of President Rodrigo Duterte as embodied in Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2019.
There is also no legal basis in requiring DOLE’s clientele to secure NPC, Bello said.
“It may even violate pertinent provisions of the 1987 Constitution, the Labor Code of the Philippines, as renumbered, and other existing legislations,” he said.
Various labor groups also slammed the PNP proposal, saying the measure is a blatant violation of workers’ constitutional right to freedom of association.
The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines and the Bukluran ng Mangagawang Pilipino said requiring workers police clearance in transactions with the Labor department was an additional government bureaucratic layer and an additional cost and burden to workers.
“From the looks of it, the proposed police clearance in DOLE transactions would further delay the injustice among aggrieved workers and would drive away those seeking redress in DOLE’s conciliation, mediation and dispute resolution and workplace inspection processes and many other services of DOLE and its attached agencies.” ALU National Executive Vice President Gerard Seno said.
“Having to require workers to obtain a police clearance prior to registering a new union, filing for a certification election or other legal processes, the PNP is sending the same message they sent to community pantry organizers: ‘We are watching you!’ All workers who dare to struggle against the abuses of their employers will be monitored and profiled,” BMP said.