President Duterte signs law giving FREE NBI Clearance, TIN, Birth Certificate, UMID & other requirements to first time job seekers

Mga higala! President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law that will provide FREE job application requirements like Police & NBI Clearance, medical certificate, TIN, Birth certificate, and more, to first-time job seekers.

This was signed into law last April 10 and was named as Republic Act 11261 or the “First Time Job Seekers Assistance Act”.

Under the law, individuals who seek employment for the first time will be able to secure identification documents and clearances issued by the government for free.

These include police and barangay clearance, medical certificates from government clinics and hospitals, NBI certificate, birth and/or marriage certificates, tax identification number (TIN), transcript of records from SUCs, and Unified Multi-Purpose ID card (UMID), among other government documents that may be required by employers.

Data shows that job applicants pay as much as P2,000 for these employment requirements notwithstanding other expenses such as additional money for transportation, food, among others.

First-time applicants will only be asked to submit a barangay certification as proof that the individual is a first-time jobseeker. The law covers not only fresh graduates but also out-of-school youth.

According to ABS-CBN News, this will prevent government agencies from collecting fees or charges from a first-time job seeker provided that the fee is in connection with the application of certificates or documents that are usually required in seeking employment.

See the list of all included documents below:

1. Police clearance certificate
2. National Bureau of Investigation clearance
3. Barangay clearance
4. Medical certificate from a public hospital
5. Birth certificate
6. Marriage certificate
7. Transcript of academic records issued by state colleges and universities
8. Tax Identification Number (TIN)
9. Unified Multi-Purpose ID (UMID) card
10. Other documentary requirements issued by the government that may be required by employers for job applicants

To avail this benefit, first time job seekers are required to present a barangay certification that he or she is seeking employment for the first time.

The First-Time Jobseekers Assistance Act is estimated to benefit around 1.3 million first-time jobseekers annually.

According to a study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), it showed that regulations and restrictions on employment arrangements are one of the strong factors influencing school-to-work transition.

Villanueva, who is also the chairman of Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development, explained that "it takes a high school graduate up to three years to find a first job while it takes a college graduate one year to find a first job."

For more details: