Laws and Regulations

Executive Order 218

Executive Order No. 218

Strengthening the support mechanism for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency

WHEREAS, by virtue of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 ( Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9165), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) was created for the efficient and effective law enforcement of all the provisions on dangerous drugs and/or precursors and essential chemicals as provided in R.A. No.9165;

WHEREAS, pursuant to R.A. No. 9165, the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) is the policy-making and strategy-formulating body in the planning and formulation of policies and programs on drug prevention and control.

WHEREAS, R.A. No. 9165 provides for the abolition of the drug enforcement units of the Philippines National Police (PNP), the National Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Customs;

WHEREAS, the same Act also provides that the personnel of the abolished units shall continue to perform their task as detail service with the PDEA until such time that the PDEA is fully operational and is able to recruit a sufficient number of new personnel to do the task themselves;

WHEREAS, the PDEA, as the lead agency tasked to enforce R.A. No.9165, is still in its transition period and still has to develop its institutional capabilities to be able to accomplishment its mandated task;

WHEREAS, other agencies of the Government have trained drug enforcement personnel who can help PDEA fulfill its tasks;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to pursue a forcefull, intensive and unrelenting campaign against drug trafficking and the use of illegal drugs whether syndicated or street-level.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order and/or authorize:

SECTION 1. Creation of Task Forces

The Office of the President, the PNP and other agencies which were performing drug law enforcement and prevention functions prior to the enactment of R.A. No. 9165 shall organize anti-drug task force to support the PDEA.

SECTION 2. Supervision and Support

The PDEA shall exercise operational supervision and provide technical support to the main task force created by the PNP. In the case of other task forces, created within the PNP or other agencies, the President of the Philippines shall determine whether DDB or the PDEA shall exercise operational supervision.

SECTION 3. Funding

Funds for the operation of the task forces shall be sourced from the mother agencies creating the task force and from the gross receipts of lotto operations. For this purpose, the Philippine Charity Sweeptakes Office is hereby ordered to create a standby fund in the amount of One Billion Pesos (P1,000,000,000.00) to fund the operations of the PDEA and the task forces supporting it.

SECTION 4. Repeal

Executive Order No.206 dated May 15,2003 is hereby repealed. All orders, rules, regulations and issuances, or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 5. Effectivity

This Executive Order shall take effect immediately upon approval.

Republic Act 10640

Republic of the Philippines
Congress of the Philippines
Metro Manila

Sixteenth Congress

First Regular Session

Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-second day of July, two thousand thirteen.

[REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10640]

AN ACT TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN THE ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN OF THE GOVERNMENT, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTION 21 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9165, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE “COMPREHENSIVE DANGEROUS DRUGS ACT OF 2002″

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 21 of Republic Act No. 9165, otherwise known as the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002″, is hereby amended to read as follows:

“SEC. 21. Custody and Disposition of Confiscated, Seized, and/or Surrendered Dangerous Drugs, Plant Sources of Dangerous Drugs, Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals, Instruments/Paraphernalia and/or Laboratory Equipment. – The PDEA shall take charge and have custody of all dangerous drugs, plant sources of dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals, as well as instruments/paraphernalia and/or laboratory equipment so confiscated, seized and/or surrendered, for proper disposition in the following manner:

“(1) The apprehending team having initial custody and control of the dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals, instruments/paraphernalia and/or laboratory equipment shall, immediately after seizure and confiscation, conduct a physical inventory of the seized items and photograph the same in the presence of the accused or the person/s from whom such items were confiscated and/or seized, or his/her representative or counsel, with an elected public official and a representative of the National Prosecution Service or the media who shall be required to sign the copies of the inventory and be given a copy thereof: Provided, That the physical inventory and photograph shall be conducted at the place where the search warrant is served; or at the nearest police station or at the nearest office of the apprehending officer/team, whichever is practicable, in case of warrantless seizures: Provided, finally, That noncompliance of these requirements under justifiable grounds, as long as the integrity and the evidentiary value of the seized items are properly preserved by the apprehending officer/team, shall not render void and invalid such seizures and custody over said items.

“x x x

“(3) A certification of the forensic laboratory examination results, which shall be done by the forensic laboratory examiner, shall be issued immediately upon the receipt of the subject item/s: Provided, That when the volume of dangerous drugs, plant sources of dangerous drugs, and controlled precursors and essential chemicals does not allow the completion of testing within the time frame, a partial laboratory examination report shall be provisionally issued stating therein the quantities of dangerous drugs still to be examined by the forensic laboratory: Provided, however, That a final certification shall be issued immediately upon completion of the said examination and certification;

“x x x.”

SEC. 2. Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). – To implement effectively the provisions of Section 21, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) shall issue the necessary guidelines on the IRR for the purpose in consultation with the Department of Justice (DO J) and relevant sectors to curb increasing drug cases.

SEC. 3. Separability Clause. – If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain valid and subsisting.

SEC. 4. Repealing Clause. – All laws, presidential decrees or issuances, executive orders, letters of instruction, administrative orders, rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly.

SEC. 5. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

(Sgd.) FRANKLIN M. DRILON
President of the Senate

(Sgd.) FELICIANO BELMONTE JR.
Speaker of the House
of Representatives

This Act which is a consolidation of House Bill 2285 and Senate Bill No. 2273 was finally passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on June 9, 2014.

(Sgd.) OSCAR G. YABES
Secretary of the Senate

(Sgd.) MARILYN B. BARUA-YAP
Secretary General
House of Representatives

Approved: JUL 15 2014

(Sgd.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO III
President of the Philippines

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