Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Hit List

Naa man diay sa NBI hit list akong anak” (Kasali pala anak ko sa NBI hit list) said a woman who was dismayed at how she was unable to immediately get the NBI clearance of her daughter.

My wife and I giggled. What? Hit list? “Is it similar to the NPA hit list?” I jokingly asked my wife. We both laughed.

Yesterday, we went to the NBI office to get a clearance for travel abroad. There were about 300-400 people waiting in queue. We were told to go to their express lane in a mall since we were just renewing our clearances, and processing was much faster there. We arrived at the mall hoping for the express service. There were around 40 people in line for the payments, and 50 more for the picture-taking. We just entertained ourselves by looking at the faces of passersby and the front displays of some stores.



When our time came to pose for the camera, the personnel assigned marked our papers “HIT”. First it was my wife, then, it was my turn. “No, not again!” she exclaimed.

I really could not believe that there was somebody out there who has the same first name and surname as mine. For one, my first name is very unique that only my parents were imaginative enough to invent it. My family name is so rare that even the telephone directory listed only a few, if there was any. My middle name could be the reason. My wife thought otherwise. “If I’ll know which of my names got hit, I’ll drop it next time” she declared. I hope she wasn’t referring to my surname.

It was already past 1pm when we were done with the so called express lane. We were told to go back to the main office because we’re on the “HIT” list. We were already starving. So instead of proceeding to the NBI main office, we invaded the pochero house nearby.

See how we cleaned up this large bowl.



After the sumptuous lunch, we were now ready to queue again. At least, we skipped the long line in the morning. After another round of photoshoot, we were disappointed to find out that the clearance for those in the hit list can only be obtained after 7 working days as it has to be cleared in Manila. We badly need that NBI clearance by tomorrow. The hit list is no longer a laughing stuff. Unsa man gyuy sa'a namo bah? (Ano bang kasalanan namin?) Who made that list anyway?

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

di ka nag-iisa ako din nakasama sa hitlist, ang pinagkaiba naman ay 15 lang yung kapalangan ko obvious na hindi ako yun pero pinapunta pa rin ako sa avenida branch ng nbi for quality control screening daw.

wanderlass said...

look for a padrino if you need your clearance by tom.

that's express lane when bureaucracy is at work.

Lazarus said...

iskoo,halos karamihan yata nung kumuha ng clearance for travel abroad ay na "hit".

freeze, do you know of anyone inside?

Francesca said...

I suggest,wag ka na hanap padrino, wait mo na lang seven days, if magawa mo.
Baka kuartahan ka lang...
If you know you and wife didnt do a thing, eh voila ha,
teka, isip ko lang, baka naman, "raket" yang hitlist, lol

Anonymous said...

francesca, so far, la naman negative record yung nbi dito except for one bungled operation.

follow up namin yon mamaya.

Anonymous said...

I went to the same process din. Akala ko sandali lang ako sa express lane pinapunta pa ko sa main branch sa Manila. "Hit List" pala tawag dun

Anonymous said...

husband ko rin. we went to megamall, but sent to nbi taft. may findings daw sa pangalan niya. thankfully though it didnt take too long and his nbi clearance was immediately released.

i guess every time you need an nbi clearance you need to go straight to taft. hay.

vernaloo said...

oh sorry to hear about this Lazarus. Anyway I hope maayos nyo asap.

Goodluck!

Abaniko said...

Don't they have shared electronic database which they can use to clear you right away? Baka naman lahat nahi-hit list. Hmm. Duda ako dyan ah. :)

ladybug said...

Ay, natawa ako sa comment ng wife mo. Paano nga pala yun kung yung surname mo ang dahilan??? hahahaha. Good luck!

atto aryo said...

On one side, the hit list is needed to ensure that authorities get to identify law-breakers. On the otherhand, bad trip pag tinamaan ka. Kaya, to spare your children of the inconvenience, pangalanan mo na ng unique. Like Lazariuskunous. Tingnan lang natin kung me kapangalan pa yan.:-)

Anonymous said...

I too was included in the NBI's wanted list. Many years ago when I needed that damn clearance for travel purposes, the guy at the counter said that I shared a very similar name with a 30+ year-old man wanted for a lot of offenses that included manslaughter! I was still in college then so it was obvious to the clerk that I wasn't the ONE. Besides, ang layo naman ng mukha ng guy sa most wanted picture nila, haha. Bakit sa akin the same day nakuha ko rin? And to think, it was the early 80s at di pa uso ang computer sa gov't offices noon. It shouldn't take 7 days... really.

Anonymous said...

ferdz, yah, hit ka rin yata.

cess, sa taft ba main office nila? buti na dyan 1 day release kahit hit.

verns, sana maayos na. we followed it up yesterday pero wala eh.

Lazarus said...

abaniko, sa manila daw i-clear yung mga na hit. the last time nung na hit din ako, 4 days lang nakuha ko na.

ladybug, malaking away pag tinanggal nyang pangalan ko. he he.

aryo, unique na unique ang pangalan at apilyido ko. di naman ako na hit nung for local use lang yung clearance na ni-request ko. stricto lang siguro if the clearance is for travel abroad.

Lazarus said...

snglguy,sabi ng mga personnel dun, if we were in manila, the clearance can be released immediately kahit na hit. Maybe the regional office is not that equipped to verify names.

tin-tin said...

tagal na kse akong hindi kumuha ng nbi clearance. pero nung kumuha ako, walang problem. question... they don't look at it pala sa buong name mo? as in kung may ka-surname ka na kasama sa list, kasama ka na? ganun ba yun?

Tinunuy said...

hassle pala pag may kapangalan. ngayon ko lang nalaman about sa hit list na yan. hehehe.

Anonymous said...

tin-tin, kuha ka na ng bago. di ganun ka hassle dyan sa main office.

cm, di lang kailangan unique ang first name. they also consider the middle and the last names.

dodong flores 도동 플로오리스 said...

The last time I renew my NBI clearance was in 2002 in Iloilo City. Then I found out I got a criminal docket at the Makati City trial court. Of course, it should not be me. I didn't get any NBI clearance since then...
...and now I realize that record will give me problem in the future...

Anonymous said...

gaw dodong, my middle name is your last name. mao siguro ni ang hinungdan. hehehe. My uncle was put in prison once coz the number 1 most wanted person in town was his namesake. Good thing that the mayor (also of the same family name) intervened.

Anonymous said...

duda ko nga raket lang yang hitlist na yan lalo na kung travel abroad ang purpose...i got hit and they asked me to come back after 10 days...my God! maiiwanan na ako ng plane nyan! hehe

Anonymous said...

that's the way it is really if you have a tukayo...at least not for me. why did you have to get an NBI clearance, btw?

Lazarus said...

anonymous, you must be livng outside manila, that is why they require you 10 days. I got mine today. 9 days after we went to their office.

tutubi, the nbi clearance is a requirement for travel abroad. also, most companies require the clearance prior to employment.

Anonymous said...

grabeh ka unique sa akong pangalan. nya hit pa jud ko? saonz? kalagot! unsa man pud kaha akong sala? di man gani ko kabuak ug plato. pordyos porsanto ning inyong pilipinas uy! ambot nalang!

jeniel said...

animal hit list ko! sabi nang aking friend na kumuha ng NBI clearance yesterday.. ano bayang NBI..
anu ba yang NBI ruin? yan kasi sabi ng GAY na kapatid nya.