‘Nakakahiya’: Filipino spots alleged grammatical error on NBI clearance renewal platform

April 24, 2025 - 3:33 PM
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Screengrab of the National Bureau of Investigation's website for online clearance (Screengrab by Interaksyon from clearance.nbi.gov.ph)

A Filipino reported an alleged grammatical error they encountered on a government website while availing of an online service.

Reddit user “holysaint_” shared that while renewing their clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) online, they came across a message with questionable grammar.

“Not a grammar nazi pero, ano ba naman ‘to? Nakakahiya, gov [government] website pa naman,” the online user wrote on the “r/Philippines” community on Wednesday, April 23, with a loudly crying emoji.

The post was accompanied by a screenshot of NBI’s online clearance service accessed through a smartphone.

The website in question displays a page for the NBI clearance renewal system, where a pop-up message appears, reading:

“Sorry, you do not qualified from an online renewal service. Please proceed to the nearest NBI Clearance Center.” 

The post has earned 350 upvotes and almost 80 comments so far.

not a grammar nazi pero ano ba naman ‘to? nakakahiya, gov website pa naman. 😭
byu/holysaint_ inPhilippines

The alleged grammatical error failed to amuse other Redditors, who criticized the mistake on a government website.

“Obligasyon nila to have correct grammar because that is not their personal blog, it’s paid for by the taxes of millions of Filipinos na kinaltasan ng income for these projects,” an online user wrote.

“A site na kailangan credible, pero mukhang hindi credible dahil sa mga ganyan. And then, ang lalaki ng allotted budget for IT development, etc. Hayst, kawawang Pilipinas,” another Redditor wrote with a loudly crying emoji.

“Pano naman kaya pumasa sa QA [quality assurance] ‘yan?” a different online user asked.

Another Redditor provided a grammatically correct version of the pop-up message.

“Correct version: ‘Sorry, you do not qualify for the online renewal service. Please proceed to the nearest NBI Clearance Center,'” the user wrote.

“Here are the key corrections: ‘do not qualified’ → should be ‘do not qualify’ (use the base form after ‘do’). ‘from an online renewal service’ → should be ‘for the online renewal service’ (the correct preposition is ‘for’),” the Redditor added.

An NBI clearance is a government-issued document that certifies an individual has no criminal record or pending charges in the Philippines. It is a vital requirement for various purposes such as employment, business registration and overseas work or study.

Given the importance of such documents, government websites, especially those handling personal data, are expected to maintain a professional appearance and uphold the highest standards in user interface, information accuracy and cybersecurity.