Pursuant to Section 81 (b) of Republic Act No. 9165, "The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002", the following rules are hereby issued to govern the meetings of the Dangerous Drugs Board:

Section. 1. Definition of Terms - As used in these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires -

a. "Board" shall refer to the Dangerous Drugs Board;
b. "Member" shall refer to a person who is a member of the Board, whether permanent, regular or ex-officio;
c. "Chairperson" shall refer to the permanent Member who is designated as Chairperson of the Board or any person who is designated to act as Chairperson pursuant to law or the rules and regulations of the Board;
d. "Secretary" shall refer to the Executive Director of the Board; and
e. "Majority of the members present" shall refer to one-half (1/2) of the members present plus one (1) member.

Section 2. Meetings of the Board - The Board shall meet upon the call of the Chairperson or of four (4) Members.

Section 3. Place of Meetings - The meetings of the Board shall be held at the DDB-PDEA Building, NIA Road, Quezon City, or at any other place agreed upon by the Board or designated by the Chairperson, as may be deemed necessary or convenient.

Section 4. Attendance at Meetings - A Member shall personally attend the meetings of the Board, except the Cabinet Secretaries who are Members of the Board who may designate representatives whose rank shall in no case be less than an undersecretary.

The Director of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Chief of the Philippine National Police, or their duly authorized representatives, shall attend all the meetings of the Board as consultants.

Section 5. Participation in meetings - Only Members shall be allowed to participate in the discussions of the Board in a meeting.

Other persons may, however, be allowed by the Board to attend its meetings as observers or as resource persons. As such, they may provide information or answer questions that may be raised in the meeting.

Section 6. Executive Session. - The Board may, upon motion of a majority of the Members, meet in executive session. Unless authorized by the Chairperson, a person who is not a Member shall not be allowed to be present in an executive session.

The act of moving in and out of executive session shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting but the proceedings within the executive session shall be confidential.

Section 7. Notice of Meetings of the Board. - Notice of the date, time and place of meeting of the Board shall be sent to each Member in person, or by regular mail or electronic mail, at least one (1) working day before the meeting.

Section 8. Contents of Notice of Meeting. - A notice of meeting of the Board shall state, or have attached to it:

a. the business to be transacted at the meeting in sufficient detail to enable a Member to form a reasoned judgment in relation to it; and
b. the text of any Resolution or other Board action to be submitted to the meeting.

Section 9. Irregularity in Notice of Meeting. - An irregularity in a notice of the meeting is deemed waived if the Member attends and votes at the meeting without protest as to the irregularity, or if a majority of the Members in attendance agree to the waiver. The accidental omission to give notice of a meeting or the non-receipt of a notice of meeting by a Member shall not invalidate the proceedings at the meeting.

Section 10. Adjourned Meeting. - If a meeting is adjourned for less than thirty (30) days, it shall not be necessary to give notice of the resumption of the adjourned meeting other than by an announcement thereof during the meeting that is adjourned.

Section 11. Size of Quorum. - The presence of nine (9) Members shall constitute a quorum. When a quorum is present at any meeting, the affirmative vote of a majority of the Members present shall decide any matter brought before such meeting.

Section 12. Lack of Quorum. - If a quorum is not present within thirty (30) minutes after the time appointed for the commencement of a meeting, the Members present may adjourn the meeting or constitute itself into an Executive Committee pursuant to Section 20 of these Rules.

Section 13. Order of Business. - The order of business at any meeting of the Board shall be as follows:

a. call to order
b. approval of proposed agenda
c. reading and approval of the minutes of the previous meeting
d. business arising from the minutes
e. reports of the Executive Director and committees
f. unfinished business
g. new business
h. adjournment.

Section 14. Manner of Voting. - Voting at a meeting of the Board shall be by any of the following methods as may be determined by the Chairperson:

a. voting by voice; or
b. voting by show of hands.

Section 15. Votes. - A Member shall have one vote. The Chairperson shall not vote in a meeting except to break a tie.

Section 16. Presumption of Assent. - A Member who is present at a meeting of the Board at which action is taken shall be presumed to have assented to said action unless his dissent is entered in the minutes of the meeting, or unless the Member files his written dissent with the Secretary of the Board before the adjournment of such meeting. The right of dissent shall not apply to a Member who voted in favor of such action.

Section 17. Validity of Acts. - All acts done by any meeting of the Board or by any person acting as a Member shall be deemed valid notwithstanding any defect in the designation of the person acting as such Member.

Section 18. Minutes. - The Board shall ensure that minutes are kept of all proceedings at meetings of the Board and of all committees established under these Rules.

Section 19. Confidentiality of Minutes. - The minutes of the meetings of the Board and the committees established under these Rules shall be confidential and may not be divulged without the prior written approval of the Chairperson.

Section 20. Executive Committee. - The Executive Committee referred to in Section 12 of these Rules shall be composed of a Chairperson and not less than four (4) Members.

Section 21. Powers and Duties of the Executive Committee. - The Executive Committee shall exercise the powers of the Board on specific matters that require urgent attention. However, the Executive Committee may not perform any of the following acts:

a. amend or repeal any act or decision of the Board;
b. adopt new rules and regulations; or
c. create, abolish or change the composition of, or fill the vacancies, in a standing or ad hoc committee established under these Rules

The Executive Committee shall report any action taken by it to the Board during the next regular meeting of the Board for ratification.

The Board may revise, reverse or modify any act or decision of the Executive Committee.

Section 22. Standing Committees. - The Board shall have the following standing committees:

a. Demand Reduction;
b. Supply Reduction;
c. Media;
d. Finance; and
e. Rules.

The Board shall designate a Member to act as the chair of each Standing Committee. The chair shall select the members of his committee and may, from time to time, form and delegate authority to a sub-committee.

Section 23. Ad Hoc Committee. - The Board may create such number of ad hoc committees to ensure the proper implementation of specific programs, projects or activities. It shall consist of not less than three (3) and not more than five (5) members, one of whom shall be a Member, who shall act as its chair. The members of the ad hoc committee shall be designated by its chair.

The Board shall fix the term of existence of an ad hoc committee. Otherwise, it shall cease to exist as soon as it has performed its assignment or is otherwise dissolved by the Board.

Section 24. Meetings of Committees - The standing and ad hoc committees shall fix their own time and place of meetings and shall prescribe their own rules of procedure. Their meetings shall not conflict with the holding of the regular or special meetings of the Board or of the Executive Committee.

Section 25. Duties of Chairperson - The Chairperson shall have the following duties:

a. call the meeting of the Board to order at the appointed time;
b. preside at all business meetings. When business is being considered, the Chairperson cannot delegate his duty to preside to another Member;
c. announce, in its proper order, the business that should come before the Board;
d. assign the floor to a Member who desires to present motions or to speak;
e. state all motions that have been properly proposed and seconded and restate all motions that are not clear;
f. restrict discussions to the question or matter before the Board;
g. make certain that Members understand the pending business and explain the effect of a motion if it is not evident;
h. answer parliamentary inquiries and questions and decide points of order and questions of privilege as soon as they arise;
i. state the exact question to be voted upon and puts it to a vote;
j. announce votes and the results of votes;
k. sign all orders necessary to carry out a decision of the Board; and
l. perform all other duties that may be assigned to him pursuant to law and pertinent rules and regulations.

Section 26. Vice-Chairperson; duties. - The most senior permanent Member shall serve as the Vice-Chairperson of the Board. He shall assume temporarily the office and duties of the Chairperson during the temporary absence or incapacity of the latter.

The Vice-Chairperson shall also take the place of the Chairperson who is present in a meeting if it is necessary for the latter to leave the chair, or when the motion is one in which the Chairperson has a personal interest.

Section 27. Temporary Chairperson. - If the Chairperson, or in the latter's absence, the Vice-Chairperson, is not present within one (1) hour of the time appointed for the commencement of a meeting, a majority of the Members present may designate a Member to act as Chairperson of that meeting.

Section 28. Secretary; duties. - The Secretary shall be the chief recording officer of the Board. He shall have the following duties:

a. keep a careful and authentic record of the proceedings of the Board and of the committees formed under these Rules;
b. assist the Chairman of the Board in taking notes and in explaining what business is pending;
c. furnish the exact wording of a motion which is pending before the Board;
d. authenticate all records by his signature;
e. read papers that may be called for by the Board;
f. furnish information from the minutes, which may be requested by the Members;
g. prepare a roll of Members and to call it when necessary;
h. preserve all records, reports, and documents of the Board which are not assigned to others;
i. provide the Chairperson, at the beginning of each meeting, with a detailed memorandum of matters to come up under each section of the order of business;
j. provide the chair of an ad hoc committee with instructions for the committee, copies of correspondence, papers, or reports that may be of help to it;
k. have available at each meeting a copy of the R.A. No. 9165 and its implementing Rules and Regulations, these Rules, and a list of all ad hoc committees and their members; and
l. perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Board.

Section 29. Effectivity. - These Rules shall take effect immediately.

Adopted: 7 Dec. 2004

(SGD.) EDGAR C. GALVANTE
Undersecretary, Permanent Member,
Dangerous Drugs Board

(SGD.) MIGUEL A. PEREZ-RUBIO
President, Katotohanan Foundation-NGO
Regular Member

(SGD.) LUCITO A. TAN
Representing the President, Integrated Bar of the Philippines
Regular Member

(SGD.) PAOLO BENIGNO A. AQUINO IV
(Chairperson, National Youth Commission)
Ex-Officio Member

(SGD.) RAFAEL E. SEGUIS
(Undersecretary, Representing the Secretary of Foreign Affairs)
Ex-Officio Member

(SGD.) MANUEL G. IMSON
(Undersecretary, Representing the Secretary of Labor and Employment)
Ex-Officio Member

(SGD.) ANTONIO S. LOPEZ
(Undersecretary, Representing the Secretary of Health)
Ex-Officio Member

(SGD.)WENCELITO T. ANDANAR
(Undersecretary, Representing the Department of Interior and Local Government)
Ex-Officio Member

(SGD.) RAMON J. LIWAG
(Undersecretary, Representing the Secretary of Justice)
Ex-Officio Member

(SGD.) RAFAEL M. SANTOS
(Undersecretary, Representing the Secretary of National Defense)
Ex-Officio Member

(SGD.) ANSELMO S. AVENIDO, JR.
(Director General, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency)
Ex-Officio Member

(SGD.) ANGELO T. REYES
Secretary, Department of Interior and Local Government and
OIC Chairman, Dangerous Drugs Board