Executive Order No. 15, signed by President Duterte on March 6, 2017, created the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, which would oversee and synchronize government efforts to combat the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.
The order designates the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency as chair of the committee, which includes 20 government entities including the military.
It also provides for the creation of a National Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force that will undertake sustained antidrug operations.
Besides the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the other members of the committee are the Philippine National Police, Department of National Defense, Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Philippine Information Agency, Dangerous Drugs Board, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Health, Department of Education, Anti-Money Laundering Council, Office of the Solicitor General, Public Attorney’s Office, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Immigration.
The committee’s tasks include ensuring the conduct of anti-illegal drug operations, arrest of drug lords, peddlers and users, implementation of the barangay drug-clearing program and conduct of advocacy campaign initiatives.
It is also directed to cleanse the bureaucracy of unscrupulous employees involved in illegal drugs.
The committee will have clusters, such as the enforcement cluster, which will conduct the anti-illegal drug operations; justice cluster, responsible for the expeditious prosecution of drug cases; advocacy cluster, which will lead a nationwide campaign for the government’s anti-illegal drug policy; and rehab and reintegration cluster, which will implement drug rehab and reintegration programs. —INQUIRER RESEARCH
SOURCES: INQUIRER ARCHIVES, PDEA.GOV.PH