[ PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 280, August 27, 1973 ]

AUTHORIZING THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATOR TO ORDER THE CLOSURE, OR SUSPEND OR REVOKE THE LICENSE, OF ANY DRUG ESTABLISHMENT WHICH MAY BE FOUND ADMINISTRATIVELY TO HAVE VIOLATED THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE SALE OR DISPENSATION OT PROHIBITED OR REGULATED DRUGS, MEDICINES AND SIMILAR SUBSTANCES.

WHEREAS, to protect the public morals, health, safety and welfare, the State wages a relentless campaign against drug addiction and the vices and ills attendant thereto; and

WHEREAS, some drug establishments contribute to the frustration of said campaign by selling or dispensing drugs, medicines and other similar substances in violation of Republic Acts Nos. 3720 and 6425, otherwise known as the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, respectively, and other laws and the regulations issued thereunder;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby decree and order:

SECTION 1. Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the Food and Drug Administrator is hereby authorized to order the closure, or suspend or revoke the license, of any drug establishment which after administrative investigation is found guilty of selling or dispensing drugs, medicines and other similar substances in violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, or other laws regulating the sale or dispensation of drugs, or rules and regulations issued pursuant thereto.

SEC. 2. The administrative investigation shall be summary in character. The owner of the drugstore shall be given an opportunity to be heard.

SEC. 3. This Decree is hereby made part of the law of the land and shall take effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 27th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.

			(Sgd.) FERDINAND E. MARCOS President Republic of the Philippines
	By the President:
	(Sgd.) ROBERTO V. REYES
		Assistant Executive Secretary