Re Post : for those who couldnt open the article bcoz for some reason ,i think it is already blocked. Getting hit at the NBI by Arlene Burgos Posted at 03/05/2014 1:00 PM | Updated as of 03/05/2014 1:04 PM I prepared for this day as if I was going to cover the Black Nazarene procession: I commuted, was in comfortable shoes, did not have valuables, and had a chocolate drink and crackers in my bag. The last time I secured clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was right after college when my first job required me to submit one. All the other jobs and posts after that did not seek one, so I went through my professional life not having to brave that really long line at the NBI Main Office that I remember from the late ‘90s. But I need a clearance now because I will be flying off in a few days to Singapore for a research fellowship. I cannot afford to lose time and be hassled unnecessarily at the airport or at the Immigration by any hold-departure orders that may have been handed on any of my namesakes (other Arlene Burgoses of this world – I’m just playing it safe here, I don’t mean to say that I’m assuming you have estafas or what-nots), so I thought better to get an NBI clearance. The day started off positively. I wanted to do a shout out at the local government of Manila for all its effort to ease the city traffic because it looked like it is working. My cab ride from Quezon City to the NBI office at the UN Avenue-Taft intersection was a short 45 minutes, considering it is Ash Wednesday and people were trooping to the Quiapo church. Good job, Manila! Screengrab from nbi.njis-ph/ By 8:30 a.m., I was inside the NBI. I simply had to ask where the “online” – people who inputted their details via a form from the nbi.gov.ph ‘s online clearance form – should proceed, and a few minutes after I was next in line to pay my P115 clearance fee. Good job, NBI! A few minutes and three flights of stairs up after, I was queuing for biometrics. I could overhear people in the line praising the new NBI system. Some were talking about going to the mall or catching up with friends – apparently due to the unexpected free time the efficient online clearance system afforded them. Just like me, they were expecting long lines and even longer waiting time, but much to our pleasant surprise, the entire thing is over in about 30 minutes. The lady who took my fingers’ scan and my picture probably wasn’t having a good a day as I was. “Oo, ikaw na. Dapat ‘pag wala na, tayo na. Hindi kita makita rito (Yes, it’s your turn. When you see there’s no one else in front of me, you should stand up immediately. I can’t see you from where I’m sitting),” was what I had made out of her mumbling. I ignored what I thought was a snide remark; it’s a small thing. I proceeded to check my personal details on her screen and supplied her with the information she sought. As I feared, my name came up “with hit” which, in my understanding, meant I have a namesake, and that my name has probably been associated with something that merited a second look from authorities. My next stop is the “Releasing” section on the ground floor. Had I been “cleared” like the others from my line, I would have been asked to go to the “Printing” section where, as the name suggests, you queue to have your clearance printed. The lady behind one of the counters at “Releasing” on the ground floor marked my receipt with “March 12, 2014” – the date I am supposed to come back for my clearance, I assumed. I asked what would happen on March 12. I was told I may get my clearance, or get further instructions if there is any problem. This worried me as my trip is on March 15. I asked if there is any office I could proceed to now so that I don’t have to wait that long. If there is anything I should do now to “clear” my name, then I want to do it now. The lady gave me a phone number where I could inquire in case my paper gets released early. The way she explained it convinced me this is the best I and she could do for now. I made my way out. WITH HIT “Hit” or “with hit,” this is still the best government transaction I ever made so far. I was amazed no end at the world of difference between the online clearance procedure, and the long lines of people that I passed by as I was heading for the exit. Walking, I passed by a man instructing people in one of the lines, “Ito po ang form. Habang naghihintay kayo ay fill-up-an niyo. Ang form ay pini-fill-up-an, hindi tinititigan, (This is the form. While you are waiting, fill it up. The form is meant to be filled up, not stared at).” I thought that was not a good way to be giving directions to people. These, after all, are presumably people needing NBI clearance for work, and therefore are, or would be, taxpayers. If you are an NBI worker – a government employee – you owe it to citizens to at least not be rude. But I ignored what I thought was a snide remark; it’s a small thing. Maybe the crowd was just rowdy earlier, and it set off this man’s temper, and that is why he is talking this way now. That online thing they did really made the entire process easier. People should know about this. Citizens should be made aware that they could save themselves from hours of queuing if they filled the online form. That filling up of form saves a lot of time. People who need NBI clearance should do this. I will tell my friends about this. I will write about this. Oh wait, let’s show people how long those lines are that you have to brave if you don’t cooperate with NBI and fill up their forms ahead of time… So I took pictures of the lines as I was passing by. The light outside the building was brighter than was in the interior; one of my “line” pictures was blurred. I paused and stood awhile to take a picture with my phone. And then it happened. Photo by Arlene Burgos Photo by Arlene Burgos Photo by Arlene Burgos Two men minding the lines shouted at me, “Ano’ng ginagawa mo? Bakit ka kumukuha ng picture (What are you doing? Why are you taking pictures)?” BAD DREAM What happened next seemed like a bad dream. Two or three more men in blue shirts were approaching, shouting at me. Their voices were enough to make people on the lines look at my direction. They were alternately asking what I was doing, why I was taking pictures, who I was, did I have a permit? Worse, they were coming at me, demanding I hand over my phone, and delete the pictures. I was afraid as they approached me and I said out of instinct, “Journalist po ako. Taga-ABS-CBN po ako (I am a journalist. I am from ABS-CBN).” There seemed to be more men now. One of them was demanding to see my ID. One of them was demanding that I delete my pictures. I was ready to make a run for it and was on a retreating position; I was afraid one of the men would come near and snatch my phone. I maintained distance and tried my best to not let any of them get near me. I repeated that I am a journalist, and said in a voice that I wanted people in the line to hear, “Journalist ako. Ipapakita ko ang ID ko. Pero hindi mo pwedeng kunin (I am a journalist. I will show you my ID, but you are not to take it).” I showed them my company ID, and quickly reached out for one of my business cards from inside my bag. The men then asked me to go with them to their “office.” I said, “Sige, dalhin niyo ako sa press office, o sa director’s office (Yes, bring me to the press office, or to the director’s office).” “Hinuhuli niyo ba ako? Ide-detain niyo ba ako sa office niyo (Am I being accosted? Are you going to detain me at your office)?” I asked. I was in tears. And I am not easily moved to tears. I had editors who crumpled stories and threw copies at you. I had bosses who dished out invectives for sloppy work. I covered Edsa 2 and 3, prison riots, the Magdalo capers, the post-9/11 terror attacks in Manila and in the South. I am the mom of an almost-teenage boy. I do not cry easily. So even for someone like me, this was pretty intense. A man in blue shirt holding a small megaphone approached and said, “Ma’am taga-saan ba kayo? Bakit kayo kumukuha ng picture (Ma’am, where are you from? Why are you taking pictures)?” I told the man I was pretty impressed with the speed of the online clearance system, and wanted to tell people how much time from the long lines they would save themselves from if they registered online. The man introduced himself and apologized. He said I could go to their office so I could have water. He said I could trust him. He showed me his ID and repeatedly told me his name. MEN IN BLUE I quickly posted on Twitter one of the pictures I got, and this line: “Men in blue shouted at me in public at NBI for taking this picture. Then they told me I must delete this.” I looked around for the exit but was probably just too disoriented to figure out it’s through the same gate where I entered. I thought if I ran, the men would just run after me, and it could be a bigger scene, or could spell out bigger trouble because, don’t they say, “flight is an indication of guilt”? I tried my best to steer my mind away from the thought that the last time someone from my family was accosted, it was also in a public space, and amidst shouted protestations, “Aktibista ako! Aktibista lang ako (I’m an activist! I’m just an activist)!” Six years after he disappeared without a trace, and here I am shouting, “I am a journalist!” Somehow confident that my last Twitter post would at least leave enough of a lead should I be “detained” (although for some reason, I highly doubted that by this time), I decided to go with the man with the megaphone into his office. I was brought to the Security Management Division. While people kept saying this is the “SMD” office, the name “Mancao” kept popping up in my mind. But I was too busy trying to regain my composure; I did not try to make sense of that thought. The man with the megaphone asked if I wanted to get my clearance sooner, if I or any of my relatives needed NBI clearance. A strong sense of righteous indignation swept over me, I had to stop myself from blurting out to his face, “Inaayos mo ba ako? Hinihilot mo ba ako?” I controlled myself because I know where this man is coming from; he is just trying to be careful lest this whole thing explodes in the media and he and his men might get reprimanded. I wanted to sit down with these people to tell them what they did was wrong. I told them so. I tried to refute what I thought were wrong notions and told them I am a citizen, and just like everyone else, should not be treated the way their people treated me. Their responses flabbergasted me. YOU COULD BE A TERRORIST “NBI is a very sensitive institution.” “Everyone here, all the media people here would ask for permission before they shoot anything.” “You could be a terrorist, we are just protecting our office. Isn’t it like that too in ABS-CBN?” “Anywhere you go, in whatever office you go to, whether public or private, you should secure permission.” Writing about this now, a few hours after the confrontation, my sense of rationalization tells me there is something very wrong about these concepts these people keep about where their responsibility to protect ends, and where citizens’ freedom begins. What they said, in my mind, contradicted everything I have been taught and everything I teach about freedom of the press and freedom of expression. I thought about the wisdom of having to write about this incident. Of the pros and cons between letting this slip, letting it go, and being silent. And then I saw a pencil bearing the “Bayan Mo iPatrol Mo” logo on my desk. It could not have been me, it could have been one of those citizen journalists, one of those Bayan Patrollers, who could have been stopped and shouted at by those NBI men. It could have been one of those citizens who just had a phone and wanted to share the good news about online NBI clearance and took a selfie with the crowd who did not go online and now had to endure the long lines. It could have been someone who did not have the ABS-CBN Corporation ID. It could have been someone who did not have a business card that said, “Head, Social Media and Mobile | News and Current Affairs.” It could have been someone who would be scared and would give up his phone, and allow those pictures to be deleted. So, I write this article now for that someone. And, by the way, yes, that online NBI clearance works. Really. Disclaimer: The views in this blog are those of the blogger and do not necessarily reflect the views of ABS-CBN Corp.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 07:39:50 +0000
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