‘Minimum-wage earner’ questions ₱250 police clearance renewal fee

The official PNP clearance portal lists the fee at ₱150.

A netizen who described herself as a “minimum-wage earner” questioned being charged ₱250 to renew her police clearance at a mall in Caloocan City—despite the Philippine National Police’s official website listing the fee at ₱150.

In an Oct. 14 TikTok post, user @lovielycheeseee shared text images recounting her experience at SM Center Sangandaan.

“Police Clearance Renewal ₱150 SA SYSTEM, PERO ₱250 ANG SINGIL SA WALK-IN?!” the text read.

In the post’s caption, she said she waited for a receipt after completing the renewal process. When none was given to her, she asked for one herself and was told that no physical receipt was issued because the payment was made online.

Before taking a photo of her online receipt, she said a staff member explained the charges. She was told that the system showed ₱150 for GCash payments, but became ₱180 due to a transaction fee. LandBank payments, meanwhile, remained at ₱150.

Since she was a walk-in applicant, she said she was charged ₱250.

When she got home, she told her sister about the payment, and the sister said, “Anong ₱250? Nung nagpa-renew ako, ₱150 lang binayad ko.”

The user said she did not challenge the charge because she was exhausted after first going to the United Nations Avenue area to renew her National Bureau of Investigation clearance before heading to SM Center Sangandaan.

She and her sister searched for the renewal fee online, and whether walk-in applicants were charged ₱250. The results they found reportedly showed fees ranging from ₱150 to ₱180.

“[K]aya lalo kaming nagtaka kung saan nanggaling ang additional ₱100,” she said.

Her sister remarked, “Kaya hirap na hirap ang mga Pilipino, pati sa maliliit na bagay, kinokorap pa!” The user’s boyfriend, meanwhile, joked, “Baka pang-meryenda nila.”

“As a minimum-wage earner, grabe na ‘to,” she added.

Not a police officer

In an edit to her post, the user clarified that the person who assisted her was a civilian dressed in ordinary clothes, not a police officer.

She also said she did not consider the person a fixer, contrary to some comments on her post.

She explained that the staff member managed appointments and contacted her after she was told that walk-in applicants without scheduled appointments were not being entertained. The person eventually assisted her with the renewal, she said, but the assistance came at a cost.

Anti-red tape rules

The Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, or Republic Act No. 11032, requires government agencies to publish their service requirements, procedures, processing times, and fees in their respective Citizen’s Charters. It prohibits additional costs and requirements that are not included in the charter.

Penalties depend on the specific violation and circumstances. They include administrative sanctions like suspension or dismissal, perpetual disqualification from holding public office, forfeiture of retirement benefits, imprisonment of one to six years, and a fine of ₱500,000 to ₱2 million.

Other laws may also apply if an investigation establishes conduct involving bribery, extortion, or illegal solicitation.

Police clearance’s varying fees

Official sources list different fees for police clearance services. The PNP’s 2025 Citizen’s Charter lists the PNP Directorate for Intelligence Clearance as a service with a 10-minute processing time and a fee of ₱80 per copy.

The official PNP clearance portal, pnpclearance.ph, lists the police clearance fee at ₱150.

The agency proposed increasing the fee to ₱200 in May, citing rising operational costs. The proposed increase has not yet been officially implemented.

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