STEPS | How to get a police clearance in Manila Police District (Updated 2017)

In 2015, I posted in my main blog a simplified list of steps on how to get a police clearance in Manila, particularly in Manila Police District (MPD). Now, I am posting a revised version of the steps plus the associated police clearance application payments.

Siyempre, we use the police clearance as part of a list of requirements need when applying for something in the bank, at work, or in a government facility. In this post, I will be detailing the steps on how a police clearance (certificate and ID card) can be obtained if you are near Manila Police District.

Location of MPD:

Image Courtesy: Google Maps

Located along UN Avenue in Ermita, Manila, its nearest landmark include Manila Medical Center (Manila Med) so if you're riding LRT 1, just stop at UN Avenue station.

Requirements for getting a police clearance in MPD:

• CASH - you'll have to spend at least 300 Php, the breakdown of which is as follows 
• Cashier 1 (I really don't know what payment here is for): 100 Php 
• Cashier 2 (beside Cashier 1 for pPolice clearance ID card and certificate): 200 Php 
• Manual fingerprinting donation: at least 1 Php 
• Take note that two receipts should be issued to you, one from each cashier

PROCEDURES OR STEPS TO GET A POLICE CLEARANCE IN MANILA:

You start at the small entrance on the left side of the MPD complex where you'll see a small booth with men handing out an application form and people writing and waiting for their clearances to be released. So, this area is the registration and waiting area at the same time.

1. Fill out the application or registration form.

    Time allotment: 3-5 minutes. This varies depending on your writing speed

Police Clearance Application Form 2017

After filling in the necessary information, proceed to the cashiers at the left passageway. You'll just have to follow the trail of how the booths are arranged.

2. Pay 100 Php in the first cashier.

   Time allotment: 2-3 minutes. Just bring the exact amount para mabilis hehe. Don't forget the receipt 'cause it will be checked.

So I checked the first receipt (refer to photo above). It's issued by the Office of the Treasurer pala. Maybe it's a contribution to the city's coffers associated with safety? I don't know haha.

3. Proceed to the next booth to pay 200 Php for the police clearance ID card and certificate.

 
    Time allotment: 2-3 minutes. Again bring the exact amount para walang problema hehe  and don't forget the second receipt.

Here's the second receipt you should have received after passing the cashier booths located adjacent to each other.

4. Manual fingerprinting.

  You will then get inside the Main Area for processing everything and look for the manual fingerprinting area. There you'd have your hands dirty with ink. Hence, the guys handling that section will be ASKING you to DONATE for their wet wipes. Show your form and receipts to them.
    Time allotment: 2-3 minutes

   

5. Data encoding.
    Once done with step 4, look back and you'll see chairs. Line up (by sitting) and wait for your turn to show your application form to the data encoders. They will have computers with screens facing you so that you'd be able to double check the information they're typing. Make sure there's no problem in the information they inputted.

    Time allotment: 3-5 minutes

   

6. Face capture (photo) and digital signature input, plus biometrics.

   When you're finally done with the data encoding, the encoder will give you a printout. Give this together with your receipts to the section for photo capture, digital signature and biometrics. Basta andiyan lang yan, madaling mahanap, promise.
    Here, the facilitator will ask you to remove any earrings, eyewear, etc so that your bare face will be placed on your police clearance ID. Here, the facilitator will request that you place your right thumb on the biometric scanner four (4) times to record your thumb print. It's also in this section wherein you'd have to sign digitally.
    Take note that your receipts and the printout handed to you will not be given back in this area. Why? You will be asked to go back to the entrance or waiting area. There you'd just have to wait for a few minutes so that your police clearance ID  and certificate will be released.
    Time allotment: 5-10 minutes

7. Releasing area. WAIT.
   Here, you'd just have to wait until your name is called. Releasing of my clearance ID and certificate only took 5 minutes hehe. It's really fast. Well, I guess it depends on the number of people who are there. Nung time ko, Friday morning, konti lang tao.

    Time allotment: 5-10 minutes

There it is! Swabe ba? Hope you'd be able to get your police clearance certificate and ID in the Manila Police District super fast. Please be aware though that the duration it would take might depend on whether or not there's a lot of people

If this post has been helpful to you, hope you'd take time to support my kids (blogs). Please like Spotlight Philippines and Manila LifeBox, follow by email, or follow me on Facebook for more updates. :)

HOW TO | 3 easy and affordable steps to own and create a .COM website using NameCheap, BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard, and Blogger

For about five long years, I have experimented on using Blogger as a temporary platform to hinge my writing about any topic that I like or love. And within this time frame, I understood how Blogger works, how I can manipulate and add cool stuff, how I can place some ads, how I can gain traffic, and most important of all, how popular the Blogspot domain is for every person out there who wanted to try out writing but didn't have the funds to go own a website. 

Teka, allow me to explain first what a domain name is in layman's term. A domain name simply is that part of the internet ("www." + domain/keyword + ".com, .ph, .com.ph extension, etc") that you can own. 

So I asked myself, why don't I try to have my own custom domain and not just one that's attached as a Blogger sub-domain/URL? At first, I was hesitant to do it because I knew it would be expensive but then I realized I could have my own ______.com if I only research the prices well enough. And indeed, I did. Today, I purchased this new domain ManilaLifeBox.com which I plan to use as a way to project my other side--the more simpler side of me. It is in this site where I will continue and improve from where I started off, Spotlight Philippines. Okay, let's talk about this blog in another post hehe.

How much did it cost me to buy this domain? I actually looked through a lot of domain registrars like GoDaddy.com, Dot.PH, Pangalan.com, NameCheap.com, Web.com.ph, and Zoom.ph. And I realized that the cheapest for me, thinking on a long-term basis, was NameCheap. I can attest that GoDaddy and NameCheap are some of the cheapest providers for domain registration. However, I have had some security issues with the former because GoDaddy has been hacked in the past by Anonymous. 

The other local domain registrars were a bit expensive on a yearly basis, with the first year having a dropped price (say 350 Php) followed by a 100% increase the next year (600 Php). Some offered competitive price points kaso when WhoIs privacy protection service (which keeps your private contacts like name and address unseen in public directories) is taken into consideration, the total cost differences show up. Look these sites up and see the differences. 

 Now, how did I do it? How did I get ManilaLifeBox.com? These are the three easy and affordable steps to having your own affordable website. 

1. Register your own domain via NameCheap.com. 
2. Pay via BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard. 
3. Use Blogger's free hosting service so you wouldn't have to pay for it. 

FIRST. Purchase your own domain via NameCheap.com. 

Let's start. I have explained to you that NameCheap.com is probably the cheapest of all domain registrars. It's so cheap I bought the domain for a number of years. I actually paid around 2300 Php for four years of ownership and WhoIs privacy protection. If I went for GoDaddy, I would have paid around 3400+ Php. To let you see the difference, check out the images below.

Cost of purchasing Blingph.com plus WhoIs privacy protection for 5 years via NameCheap.com

For example, I wanted to buy blingph.com. I want to own this domain and have WhoIs privacy protection for 5 years. If I choose GoDaddy, I'd pay 3,804.15 Php; meanwhile, if I choose NameCheap, I'd only pay 3,001.89 Php ($63.87 at 47 Php a dollar).

Cost of purchasing Blingph.com plus WhoIs privacy protection for 5 years via GoDaddy.com

That's at least 800 Php price difference. Hence, it was definitely one great deal. Just go to NameCheap.com and check if the .com domain name you want is still available. Then, you'd have to add it to the cart. Eventually, you'll have to register your name, email address, contact number, and personal address. If you don't want these details to get leaked out in public, purchase the WhoIs privacy protection service that's discounted as of today. You may also Google for Namecheap coupons which slashes off around 40-50 Php from the total cost hehe. 

SECOND. Pay using BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard. 

Here's the sad part. I didn't have enough Paypal funds nor a credit card to pay for the NameCheap domain. And this is the problem for a lot of bloggers in the Philippines. We're not that much into credit cards and we don't have US bank accounts to fund our Paypal accounts. (But if you have a Paypal account or MasterCard/Visa credit card, then all you need to do is enter the necessary details.)

I was pretty much eager to have it that I decided to approach a few friends online to ask if they have extra funds that they can send me while I pay them via local peso deposit. How can i pay for this if I don't have a credit card or a Paypal account or bitcoins? I quickly contacted the live chat assistant and asked her if they accept MasterCard electronic prepaid cards like BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard. 

In front of the BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard

Just so you know, the BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard is actually very convenient in paying for shopping online like in stores like Lazada, Zalora, or in purchasing airline tickets online. It really takes off the sweat of having to go to the nearest Bayad Center in a shopping mall. However, I haven't heard of BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard in paying for purchasing a domain/website--add to that the fact that the payment is in dollar denominations. It took several minutes before the live chat assistant was able to verify that they accept such cards. Still, there was fear in mind because the funds inside the BPI ePrepaid card will not be withdraw-able anymore. 

At the back of the BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard

Eventually, I decided to transfer 2,300+ Php from my BPI account to my BPI ePrepaid Mastercard. So, after having transferred the necessary amount, I confirmed my order on NameCheap and was directed to its Payment Page. And it asked me to input the details of my BPI ePrepaid MasterCard. These include my account name, account number, the security code (a three-digit number found at the back of the card), and the expiration date. 

And to my surprise, it worked! The payment process was smooth! You can use your BPI My ePrepaid MasterCard to purchase a domain name or website at NameCheap.com. Woah! I was so excited that I decided to continue with the last process, that is to host it in Blogger instead of buy hosting plans and website builders from NameCheap and the like. It's really cost-effective and cheap! 

THIRD. Host your custom domain in Blogger. 

What is a hosting provider? Why look for a host? You need some hosting provider to keep your information and posts in its servers. Actually, you can pay for it through a lot of hosting plan providers, but Blogger offers it for free (including the template which you can personally edit via HTML manipulation)! 

If you'd quickly type on Google's search bar the terms Namecheap and Blogger, you'll see how you can use your domain with your blogger account. Visit this page to know more. It basically simplifies the steps on how you can host your Namecheap domain in Blogger. After following these steps, you can now start blogging!

Now, why use Blogger and not Wordpress as a blogging platform? First, it's owned by Google. And I haven't heard of any issues with Google at all, other than the fact that it could shut Blogger down anytime. But it's nearly impossible that this site is going to stop operations. Second, there's a bunch of differences which can be summarized by the two images below. Enjoy!

 Chart Courtesy: HowJoyful

Comparison Courtesy: HowToMakeMyBlog