Secretary of Justice Leila M. De Lima today formally announced that the country's premier law enforcement agency, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has successfully switched on its very own clearance system over the holidays. The soft launch was made on January 2, 2014 with the head office and eighteen (18) branches nationwide going online.

"The new Clearance System provides a more reliable platform for the efficient processing of applicants' information. With the improved search engine and query database, the accurate releasing of clearances will be faster," said Secretary de Lima.

The new system includes an Automated Cashiering Module for the consistent accounting reports that eliminate malversation and corruption and a Renewal Module to ease the hassles of securing a clearance for those with existing ones.

"This is a first in the history of the Department and of the Bureau - our very own clearance system that was internally developed as part of our flagship National Justice Information System (NJIS) Project," she added. Previously, the clearance systems were run by third party providers or contractors.

As of 08 January 2014, forty nine (49) sites nationwide are already live and to cater the public. Enhancements and improvements are expected in the next couple of weeks to extend to e-Payment Module and NBI kiosks.