By virtue of the powers vested in me by law, I, Elpidio Quirino, President of the Philippines, do hereby order:

All prohibited drugs and all instruments, apparatus and articles specially designed for the use thereof, now in the possession of the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, or any other government bureau or office, national, provincial or municipal, whether held pending adjudication by the courts or for other purposes, shall be immediately invoiced and turned over to a committee, to be known henceforth as the Opium Custodian Committee, which shall be under the immediate control or supervision of the Chief of Constabulary; and hereafter officers of the law shall likewise invoice and turn over to said Committee, thru the Provincial Commander concerned, all such drugs, instruments, apparatus and articles as may be seized or found, as soon as possible or at the latest within twenty-four hours after coming in possession thereof.

Each lot seized or found shall be invoiced separately and in order to facilitate identification, each separate box, bottle, can or tin, containing or supposed to contain a prohibited drug, and each instrument, apparatus, or article specially designed for the use thereof, shall be labeled, numbered and sealed, before said Committee may accept delivery thereof.

The Opium Custodian Committee shall be composed of one officer or employee each of the General Auditing Office, the Department of Health and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, to be designated, respectively, by the Auditor General, the Secretary of Health and the Collector of Internal Revenue, and three officers, two from the G-2 and one from the G-4, of the Philippine Constabulary to be designated by the Chief of Constabulary. The senior constabulary officer appointed to said Committee shall serve as the chairman of the Committee, and the junior officer shall serve as secretary.

The duty of the Opium Custodian Committee shall be to destroy by burning in the boiler furnace of the San Lazaro Hospital crematory, or in the city crematory, whichever may be convenient or feasible, all opium, cocaine and other prohibited drugs, and all instruments and apparatus for the use of such drugs, which may be lawfully seized or confiscated: Provided, That if such drugs, instruments and apparatus have a legitimate commercial value, the Committee shall deliver such drugs, instruments and apparatus to the Government Purchasing Agent, who shall dispose of them in the best interest of the Government, whether locally or in some foreign country, to responsible persons or entities duly authorized by law or under international agreements to deal in them.

The Opium Custodian Committee shall make certified reports to the President in quadruplicate of all drugs destroyed or otherwise disposed of by it, one copy of said reports being delivered to each, the Auditor General, the Secretary of Health and the Collector of Internal Revenue.

Provincial commanders shall act as agents of the Chief of Constabulary to receive all prohibited drugs, and all instruments, apparatus and articles specially designed for the use thereof, which may be seized or found in their respective provinces and cities therein, and to hold them pending final adjudication by the courts and afterwards to ship them to Manila; and the Opium Custodian Committee shall perform the duties of the Provincial Commander for the cities of Manila, Quezon and Rizal and in addition thereto to act as custodian of all such drugs, instruments and apparatus, whether seized or found in the cities of Manila, Quezon and Rizal and shipped from the provinces, after they have been duly declared confiscated by the courts, and until they can be finally disposed of as provided in paragraph 4 above.

This Order supersedes Executive Order No. 20, dated May 19, 1922.

Done in the City of Manila, this 30th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and forty-eight, and of the Independence of the Philippines, the third.


By the President:
(SGD.) EMILIO ABELLO
Executive Secretary