Status Report on the Proposed Amendment to the E.O. No.

773,
titled, Further Reorganizing the Peace and Order Council (POC)
I.

Brief Description of E.O. No. 773

Sec. 116 of the Local Government Code of 1991 mandates the
establishment of the Local Peace and Order Council (POC) in every
province, city and municipality, pursuant to Executive Order No.
309, s. 1987. The Secretary of Interior and Local Government is
designated as the Chair of the National Peace and Order Council
(NPOC) pursuant to Executive Order No. 773, s. 2009.
Executive Order No. 773, s. 2009, provides for the compositions of
the Peace and Order Councils (POCs) on both national and local
levels. It also enumerates the duties and function of the National
and Sub-national POCs. POCs at all levels also have their own
Secretariats. The Chairman of the NPOC Secretariat is the Secretary
of the Interior and Local Government (SILG) while the Chairmen and
Vice-Chairmen of the Regional POC are to be appointed by the SILG
with the approval of the President of the Philippines from among the
members of the Council. On the other hand, the local chief
executives at the sub-national levels serve as the Chair and Vicechair.
Furthermore, the said Order created Regional ISO Coordinating
Center in every region which shall focus on the coordination of
internal security operations (ISO) efforts of civil authorities and
agencies, military and police. It also provides that the Kalayaan
Barangay list by the Department of Defense may also be amended
upon approval of the Unified Area Commander to conform with the
needs of the community concerned.

II.

Chronology of Significant Events

From October 2010 to January 2011, a series of meetings have been
held by the Ad Hoc Cabinet Cluster on Security, relative to the draft
Executive Issuance on the proposed amendments on Executive
Order No. 773, titled, Further Reorganizing the Peace and Order
Council (POC)
On the ninth meeting of the Ad Hoc Cabinet Cluster on Security,
held on December 8, 2010, the proposed amendments were
presented, where the agreements were incorporated in the draft
issuance
After the tenth meeting and final meeting, held on January 7, 2011,
the Cluster have decided to further review the draft executive
issuance, and directed the Technical Working Group to consolidate
all the comments within one week; the TWG have coordinated with
other agencies for their comments however, none were submitted
within the prescribed time

Finally, a letter containing the draft Executive Order, dated January

17, 2011, signed by the late Secretary Robredo, was submitted to
the Office of the President, for consideration, on January 21, 2011.
III.

Proposed Amendments
As a result of the ninth and tenth meeting of the Ad Hoc Cabinet
Cluster for Security, here are the amendments agreed upon by the
Cluster, with exception to item (d):
a. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) shall be
included in the membership of the National Peace and Order
Council (NPOC)
b. Other concerned agencies shall be invited to the meetings of the
POC as the need arises
c. The requirements for security clearances of private sector
representatives at the provincial, city and municipal levels shall
be deleted
d. The NAPOLCOM shall serve as the Secretariat of the NPOC
The proposed amendment that the NAPOLCOM shall serve as the
Secretariat of the NPOC was not included in the latest draft for the
following reasons:
The overall framework is Peace and Development, where
the DILG is the converging organization
The point of action is at the level of the Local Government
Units (LGUs) where the Secretariat positions are assigned
to the DILG proper offices
The DILG sub-regional offices are not within the
administrative supervision of the NAPOLCOM, whether
national or regional level
The arrangement where the NAPOLCOM was the NPOC
Secretariat has already been tried and it was not
successful mainly because of the organizational disconnect
and not in keeping with valued principles such as unity of
command, ease of vertical communication, policy
application and performance

IV.

Initiatives of the DILG pending the amendment of EO 773

While the draft Executive Order is still pending at the Office of the
President, a series of consultation workshops have been facilitated
by the DILG-BLGS, where the Interim NPOC Interim Secretariat has
been lodged, together with the DILG Regional POC Focal Persons, for
the purpose of formulating guidelines on the POC and POC
Secretariat Functions and guidelines on the content of the Peace
and Order and Public Safety Plan (POPS Plan) used by POCs.

A. On the Functions of POC and POC Secretariats

B. On the Content and Preparation of POPS Plans