Directing the PNP and Other Law Enforcement Agencies to Resume Providing Active Support to PDEA in the Conduct of Anti-Illegal Drug Operations

December 5, 2017

MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 17

DIRECTING THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE AND OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO RESUME PROVIDING ACTIVE SUPPORT TO THE PHILIPPINE DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY IN THE CONDUCT OF ANTI-ILLEGAL DRUG OPERATIONS

WHEREAS, on 10 October 2017, the President issued a Memorandum to all concerned agencies directing the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the Philippine Postal Office (Philpost), and all other agencies or any and all ad hoc anti-illegal drug task forces to leave to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), as sole agency, the conduct of all campaigns and operations against all those who are involved in or connected with illegal drugs;

WHEREAS, the issuance of said Memorandum was intended to pinpoint precise accountability, and was prompted by allegations from some sectors that summary killings of illegal drug suspects had been perpetrated by law enforcement agencies, particularly the PNP;

WHEREAS, the PDEA has made significant strides in the government's anti-illegal drug campaign since 11 October 2017, with only one (1) drug suspect killed in the course of its anti-illegal drug operations, but has been seriously hampered in performing its huge mandate by the lack of resources, specifically agents and operatives who can penetrate drug-infected areas down to the municipal and barangay levels;

WHEREAS, there has been a notable resurgence in illegal drug activities and crimes committed in relation thereto since the PNP and other law enforcement agencies were directed to leave to the PDEA, as sole agency, the conduct of all anti-illegal drug campaigns and operations;

WHEREAS, there is a clamor from the public to restore to the PNP and other law enforcement agencies the responsibility of providing active support to the PDEA in the conduct of anti-illegal drug operations;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and existing laws, do hereby order the following:

1. The NBI, PNP, AFP, BoC, Philpost and all other agencies and existing anti-illegal drug task forces shall resume to provide active support to the PDEA in the conduct of anti-illegal drug operations;

2. The PDEA shall continue to be the overall lead agency in the anti-illegal drug campaign pursuant to Republic Act No. 9165 and shall coordinate all government efforts through the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) created under Executive Order No. 15 issued on 06 March 2017;

3. The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) shall remain as the policy-making and strategy-formulating body in the planning and formulation of policies and programs on drug prevention and control; and

4. The PDEA, as Chair of the ICAD, shall submit monthly reports to the Office of the President on the progress of the government's anti-illegal drug campaign. CAIHTE

For strict compliance.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 5th day of December, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Seventeen.

 

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 113, No. 51, p. 9347 on December 18, 2017.