‘Wanted man’ caught while applying for police clearance

By Jennifer P. Rendon

 

Call it “walk-in arrest.”

A 35-year-old man who was the subject of a warrant of arrest was apprehended while applying for a police clearance afternoon of May 4, 2021.

Joel Saludares, Jr., 35, of Barabgay Agutayan, Sta. Barbara, Iloilo, was requesting for a National Police Clearance at the Iloilo City Police Station 1, which is co-located at the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) headquarters on Gen. Luna Sr., City Proper district, when ICPS1 found out that his name hit a “legal snag.”

The National Police Clearance System (NPCS) indicated that Saludares is wanted for violation of Batas Pambansa 22 (Bouncing Checks Law) in Criminal Case Number S-52-21.

His arrest warrant was issued by Judge Enrique Zapanta Trespeces of the Iloilo City Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 10 on April 5, 2021.

Bailbond for his temporary liberty was set at P3,000.

Colonel Uldarico Garbanzos, Iloilo City police chief, said the suspect claimed he had no knowledge that a criminal case was filed against him.

Saludares was the second person nabbed by ICPO through the NCPS.

The first person was collared for a theft case.

“That’s why, we are advocating for employers to ask for the national police clearance for their applicants. It will show there is that person has a blotter record, pending warrant of arrest, and similar other information,” Garbanzos said.

In 2018, the PNP launched NPCS, which is a centralized database containing all records/cases from different towns and cities all over the country, aimed at strengthening the police force’s capability to check criminal records.

Before the NPCS, police clearance is only issued by local police and can only identify cases filed in the specific area where it is issued.

Recently, the PNP hierarchy has also asked the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to require national police clearances for “various transactions.”

“In using the NPC (national police clearance), the DOLE will have a much broader information as to the character of an individual because of its much larger scope, coverage, and databases relied upon, and at the same time, will be able to further contribute to our endeavor of attaining a safer place for the Filipino people to do business,” PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas said in his letter to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III.

Under the NCPS, several crime-related databases, which is national in scope and updated in real time, are being used in record checking.

These include:

* Crime Information, Reporting and Analysis System (CIRAS) or previously known as e-blotter. It is the designed to establish a central database of all crime incidents that were reported to all police stations nationwide.

* Case Information and Database Management System (CIDMS). This is a system designed to establish a central database of pertinent information on cases investigated by the police investigates.

* E-Rogue Gallery System. This is where the rogue’s gallery of all arrested persons of PNP units nationwide are electronically stored.

* E-Warrant. This is where all warrants of arrests issued by the court are electronically stored.