WHEREAS, pursuant to Executive Order No. 3, dated 7 July 1992, the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC) was created with the principal task of directing and coordinating the activities of various law enforcement agencies to effect a more vigorous campaign against criminality;

WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 221 dated 23 January 1995 was issued amending Executive Order No. 3, dated 7 July 1992, and clarifying the authority and extent of the powers and functions of the PACC;

WHEREAS, Administrative Order No. 219 dated 4 October 1995 was issued delineating the functions, powers and jurisdictions of the PACC, the National Peace and Order Council, the National Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee and their implementing agencies;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need for the PACC to concentrate its anti-criminality campaign on certain offenses like violations of the Dangerous Drugs Act (R.A. 6425, as amended), plunder (R.A. 7080, as amended), and other heinous crimes deemed in R.A. 7659; and

WHEREAS, in view of the resignation of the Vice-President as PACC Chairman, there is also now a need to reconstitute the composition of the PACC

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by law, do hereby order:

SECTION 1. Section 2 of Executive Order No. 3, dated 7 July 1992, as amended, is hereby amended as follows:

œSec. 2. Composition. - The Commission shall be composed of the Secretary of Justice as Chairman the Secretary of Interior and Local Government as Vice-Chairman; the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel as Co-Vice-Chairman; and two representatives of non-government organizations (NGO) which are involved in crime prevention and designated by the President upon recommendation of the Chairman. 

SECTION 2. Section 4 of the same Executive Order is amended as follows:

œSec. 4. OFFENSES COVERED. - In the discharge of its functions, the Commission shall have the authority to take cognizance of the following crimes:

a. Those committed by organized/syndicated crime groups, including but not limited to: gunrunning, illegal logging, robbery, kidnapping for ransom, white slave trade, illegal recruitment, carnapping, smuggling, piracy, drug-trafficking, falsification of land titles and other government forms, large scale swindling, film piracy, counterfeiting and bank frauds.

An organized/syndicated crime group means a group of two or more persons collaborating, confederating or mutually helping one another in the commission of any crime.

b. Those which are considered as heinous crimes.

A heinous crime, for purposes of this Executive Order, is any of the offenses defined in R.A. 7659; a grave felony as defined in the Revised Penal Code; or an offense punishable under special law, committed in a manner that is revolting or shocking to the common sensibilities of man, whether deliberately sought or not, such as those attended by cruelty, ignominy treachery, and similar circumstances.

c. Those committed by the members of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

d. Violations of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, as amended.

e. Plunder as defined in R.A. 7080, as amended.

f. Such other offenses which the President may consider appropriate to place under its authority. 

SECTION 3. All orders, issuances, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with this Executive Order are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 4. This Executive Order shall take effect immediately.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 20th day of August, in the year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Seven.

(SGD.) FIDEL V. RAMOS

By the President:

(SGD.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary