Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO.__11004

Introduced by
Akbayan Representative Percival Cendaiia

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A HUMAN RIGHTS BASED APPROACH TO
PHILIPPINE DRUG POLICY, ESTABLISHING AND IMPLEMENTING
COMMUNITY- BASED HEALTH AND SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE
WHOSE LIVES INCLUDE DRUGS, AND PROHIBITING HARMFUL AND
DISCRIMINATORY INTERVENTIONS AND PRACTICES, APPROPRIATING
FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Prefatory Statement

The Rapporteur for the United Nations Joint Programme for Human Rights in the
Philippines (UNJP) made a very clear statement against the “War on Drugs”. In her
Outcome Report, the former administration’s anti-drugs campaign was critiqued for
“primarily targeting street-level, mostly non-violent, persons who use drugs or sell
minimal amounts of drugs and resorts to the mass incarceration of low-level actors
in the trade, instead of focusing on the most dangerous actors who are the primary
drivers of corruption, violence, and the drug trade.”

The Outcome Report is the culminating document for the three-year program entered
into by the Philippine Government and the United Nations to implement the Human
Rights Council (HRC) Resolution 45/33 adopted on 7 October 2020. It provides for a
multi-sectoral view of the human rights-based approach to drug policy as articulated
by different stakeholders in the Philippines: government agencies, civil society
organizations, development partners, the academe, and the community of people
whose lives include drugs. It offers a policy direction from punitive and ineffective
towards evidence-based and public health-focused. Most importantly, the Outcome
Report advocates for a rights-based approach, a drug policy that is not dependent on
the existing legal framework but centered on established principles of human rights.


The Rapporteur made use of the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug
Policy as framework for the discussions. In these Guidelines, the foundational
principles that a human rights-based drug policy must encapsulate were enumerated,
viz human dignity, equality and non-discrimination, universality and
interdependence of rights, meaningful participation, and accountability and right to
an effective remedy. Another document, the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the
Right to Health was cited as it specifically mentioned harm reduction as a key
element in promoting pubic health while decriminalization of drug use as a way to
protect human rights. Meanwhile, recommendations from the UNODC Regional
Report on Compulsory Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation in East and Southeast
Asia were also made part of the Outcome Report as it explicitly prescribed transition
from compulsory rehabilitation to voluntary community-based treatment, harm
reduction, and social support services. It likewise recommended the
decriminalization of drug possession and related offenses and diversion mechanisms
of people who use drugs away from the criminal justice system.

For the Philippine context, the recommendations in the Outcome Report primarily
identified the silos of programmatic changes that need to be made for a better drug
policy:

* The Department of Health (DOH) must institutionalize evidence-based
prevention and treatment programs, service-delivery, and training of health
care workers in substance use management. In addition, evidence-based drug
policy should prioritize harm reduction and must include needle and syringe
programs, safe consumption sites, and overdose prevention measures. Drug
testing must be free, safe, voluntary, and linked with the provision of care and
not used for prosecution for a criminal charge. It must also include drug
checking to determine component of the substances and their harms in order
to promote safe use. Furthermore, relapse should be treated as part of the
recovery process. In a public-health focused drug policy, access to healthcare
programs should not be through the criminal justice system.

« Local government units must work with people whose lives include drugs to
implement voluntary community-based interventions as alternatives to
incarceration. Family consultations, child-parent communication, peerled
counseling, reintegration programs, mental health services, livelihood,
housing, education, and other harm reduction and social protection measures
must be part of the program.

* Law enforcement agencies must intensify operations in those areas where
rampant and active players are residing and heighten combat against entry of
illegal drugs from customs zones, airports, and no-signal zones in prisons. They
should target drug traffickers who sell or manufacture large amount of illicit
substances. Meanwhile, drug use and low-level offenses, such as possession for
personal use and selling of small amounts of drugs should be decriminalized
and diverted to voluntary harm reduction and social support services in their



communities. For those who completed their sentences or rehabilitation
programs, their criminal records must be expunged. In order to institute
reforms and prevent human rights violations, police operations such as Oplan
Tokhang must be abolished and certain provisions of the Republic Act No.9165
or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022 must be amended.

‘These recommendations find theoretical support in the provisions of the Enhanced
Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Strategy (EPADS) issued by the Dangerous Drugs
Board. The EPADS adds health, social, and developmental services as pillars to a
new drug policy:

* Improvement of existing healthcare packages for people who use drugs by
instituting continuum of care, case management to address social and
relationship issues, holistic health interventions, family support and aftercare
components of drug use treatment and rehabilitation programs.

© Greater and closer collaboration between civil society, law enforcement, and
the health sector where every sector of the community shall be part of the
service planning and delivery.

« Evidence-based interventions shall be provided by the government. The
government intends to guarantee that the implementation of these
interventions in the Philippine setting will not only be effective but will also
adhere to high-quality, pharmacological, and psychosocial standards.

¢ Informed and voluntary participation in treatment shall be guaranteed.

* Acceptance that relapse is part of the treatment process and will not stop
anyone from re-accessing treatment services.

© The government guarantees that the health, social, and developmental pillars
will guarantee respect for human rights, dignity, and confidentiality as part of
the three non-negotiable governing principles.

The current legal framework primarily governed by Republic Act No. 9165 or the
Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2022 is limited to criminal prosecution and
facility-based rehabilitation. It is supplemented by numerous administrative
issuances that implemented random urine testing in various settings, compulsory
treatment, creation of drug lists, police visit of private residences, warrantless
arrests, drug clearing operations, and various coercive measures which violated right
to privacy, due process, and the right to health. The International Guidelines on
Human Rights and Drug Policy, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to
Health, Regional Report on Compulsory Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation in East
and Southeast Asia, the EPADS, and the Outcome Report of the UNJP which
included the Department of Justice, Dangerous Drugs Board, Department of Health,
and other pivotal national and local government agencies, the UNODC and other
development partners, civil society organizations, community of people whose lives
include drugs, and other relevant stakeholders all recommend a shift to a new and
better drug policy—one that protects human rights by removing criminal penalties


imposed on drug consumption as well as low-level and non-violent drug offenses and
guarantees the highest attainable standard of health for people whose lives include
drugs by diverting them to voluntary community-based interventions which offer
evidence-based treatment, harm reduction, and social support services.

For a drug policy that is based on public health and human rights, the passage of this
bill is earnestly sought.

IRCIVAL CENDANA
‘Akbayan Partylist


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

HOUSEBILLNO. 11004

Introduced by
Akbayan Representative Percival Cendafia

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH TO PHILIPPINE
DRUG POLICY, ESTABLISHING AND IMPLEMENTING COMMUNITY: BASED
HEALTH AND SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES INCLUDE
DRUGS, AND PROHIBITING HARMFUL AND DISCRIMINATORY
INTERVENTIONS AND PRACTICES, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Republic of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:

ARTICLE I
General Provisions

SECTION. 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Public Health Approach to Drug
Use Act of 2024”.

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to protect and
promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among
them. It shall also be declared the policy of the State to address drug-related issues
under the public health framework. The State shall:

1. Ensure that a scientific, effective, and evidence-based approach shall be the
foundation of national drug-related policies, programs, and practices for people
whose lives include drugs, including their family and relevant others. The
State shall ensure access to essential medicines, including for drug
dependence, pain treatment, and palliative care.

2. Guarantee that its drug policy shall be based on the relative harm of
psychoactive substances according to scientific studies and updated academic
researches. State shall ensure that scientific research, including that on


controlled drugs, can be undertaken and communicated and are not subjected
to censorship and government restrictions.

. Establish a national system to effectively monitor drug dependence treatment

practices to ensure access to healthcare and harm reduction for people who use
or are dependent on drugs in the community and in closed settings.

Prohibit human rights violations as a result of drug polices, programs and
practices. The State shall ensure that adequate, appropriate, and effective
remedies and means of redress are available, accessible, and affordable for all
individuals and groups whose rights have been found to be violated. Provided
further, that the State shall guarantee that people arrested, detained, or
convicted for drug-related offenses can benefit from the application of non-
custodial measures, such as but not limited to bail, reduction of bail, release
on recognizance, commutation of sentence, parole and probation, Good Conduct
Time Allowance, community service, plea bargaining, and other alternatives
to detention.

Toward this end, the State shall endeavor to establish a public health approach to
drug use. Provided that, the State will ensure that the policies, programs, and
practices mandated in this Act are effectively implemented and sufficiently funded in
communities, and that relevant stakeholders, including people whose lives include
drugs, are included in this endeavor.

SECTION 8. Rules of Interpretation. In interpreting and implementing provisions of
this Act, the following human rights principles shall be upheld:

1.

2.

No drug policy, program, or practice should have the effect of undermining or
violating the dignity of any person or group of persons.

In no case are human rights forfeited due to a person's involvement in drug-
related crime.

No person shall be deprived of their right to life based on actual or perceived
drug use or involvement in illicit drug trade.

All persons have the right to equality and freedom from discrimination. All are
equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection and benefit of the law,
including the enjoyment of all human rights without discrimination on a range
of grounds such as health status, which includes drug dependence.

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy in the event of actions and
omissions that undermine or jeopardize their human rights, including where
these actions or omissions relate to drug policy.

Everyone has the right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and
mental health; In particular, people whose lives include drugs have the right
to scientific knowledge and technologies and their applications including
evidence-based, scientifically proven interventions to treat drug dependence,


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to prevent overdose, and to prevent, treat, and control HIV, hepatitis C, and
other diseases.

7. Everyone has the right to freedom of association and peaceful assembly. This
includes the right to plan, organize, promote, and advertise peaceful marches,
protests, and other types of gatherings to express views and advocate for or
against changes in drug policies, programs, and practices, and the right to form
and join organizations that advocate on matters related to drug policies,
programs, and practices or are dedicated to working with individuals or groups
affected by drugs and drug control efforts.

SECTION 4. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall
be defined as follows:

A. “Controlled drugs” pertains to those drugs listed in the Schedules annexed to
the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972
Protocol, and in the Schedules annexed to the 1971 Single Convention on
Psychotropic Substances.

B. “Drug dependence” is a cluster of physiological, behavioral and cognitive
phenomena of variable intensity, in which the use of psychoactive drug takes
on a high priority thereby involving, among others, a strong desire or a sense
of compulsion to take the substance and the difficulties in controlling
substance-taking behavior in terms of its onset, termination, or levels of use.

C. “Diversion programs” refers to measures that provide alternatives to criminal
sanctions or incarceration for people who are charged with drug-related
offences.

D. “Harm Reduction” refers to policies, programs, and practices that aim
primarily to reduce the adverse health, social, and economic consequences of
the problematic use of legal and illegal psychoactive drugs without focusing on
drug consumption alone.

E. “Psychoactive substances” are substances that, when taken in or administered
into one's system, affect mental processes, e.g. cognition or affect.

F. “Person Deprived of Liberty’ includes persons held in jails, prisons, and other
closed settings and places of detention for drug-related reasons, including
police stations, immigration centers, and compulsory rehabilitation facilities.

ARTICLE I.
Community-Based Health and Social Support Program


SECTION 5. Community-Based Health and Social Support Program — The
Department of Health, in coordination with local government units, shall establish a
community-based health and social support programs designed for the assessed
needs of people whose lives include drugs in the community. The program shall be
based on strong evidence of effectiveness according to scientific, medical research,
and practice. The following, but not limited to, interventions and strategies shall form
integral part thereof:

a. Education and outreach. ~ Development and dissemination of drug education
campaign materials to raise the level of public awareness on drugs and drug-
related issues from a social, health, rights, and evidence-based framework.
This education campaign shall also include human rights principles of non
violence and non-discrimination against people whose lives include drugs and
their full protection from stigma. This could include, but is not limited to,
counselling, HIV and hepatitis C prevention measures such as safe injecting
techniques, overdose prevention, and proper condom use.

Outreach pertains to face-to-face contact with people whose lives include drugs
in the communities they live in, and the provision of harm reduction tools, such
as condoms, syringe, and bleach kits, as well as administering other support
services to the people whose lives include drugs based on their identified needs.

b. Referral to health and social services. - Facilitate access to medical and social
services in a comprehensive, non-judgmental, non-discriminatory manner, as
determined by the specific needs of each person whose lives include drugs.
Social services include support to improve the person's quality of life, such as
provision of employment, shelter, and skills training, among others.

c. Peer support and mentorship program. - Establishing community-based core
groups composed of people whose lives include drugs with the purpose of
providing psychosocial support.

d. Integrative Psychotherapy. - Provision of person-centered psychosocial support
and counselling based on assessed needs of person whose lives include drugs.

Other health interventions and strategies for drug use may be developed and
included in the program by the DOH in consultation with the civil society, the
academe, and people whose lives include drugs, based on latest scientific evidence
and research.

Each LGU shall implement a Community-Based Health and Social Support Program
for people whose lives include drugs, with adequate and qualified personnel,
equipment, and supplies to be able to respond to the assessed needs of people whose
lives include drugs, which include, but not limited to, consultation, case management,


psycho-education, counselling, health and social support, relapse management, and
other evidence-based health interventions and strategies. Provided That, the
national government shall provide additional and necessary funding and other
necessary assistance for the effective implementation of this provision.

The manufacture, delivery, or possession for delivery of equipment, instrument,
apparatus, and other paraphernalia necessary for the implementation of the
Community-Based Health and Social Support Program by local government officials,
public health officers, barangay health workers, and other health personnel and
social workers, including peer and outreach workers, shall be exempt from any
criminal, civil, or administrative liability.

ARTICLE II.
Diversion

SECTION 6. People Whose Lives Include Drugs. The State shall not impose any
criminal, civil, and administrative liability to any person who uses drugs and
continue to use any controlled substances after treatment or incarceration. Drug
testing to determine use, relapse, compliance with a drug dependence treatment,
under all circumstances and for whatever purpose, shall be prohibited.

The State shall allow use, possession, purchase, or cultivation of controlled
substances for personal consumption, cultural, spiritual, religious, or medical
purpose without incurring any criminal, civil, and administrative liabilities. Provided
that, use, possession, purchase, or cultivation of less than ten (10) grams of any of the
controlled substances shall be prima facie evidence of personal consumption or
cultural, spiritual, religious, or medical use. Provided further, regardless of the
amount or volume of the controlled substances, personal, cultural, spiritual, religious,
or medical use can be established by other pieces of evidence such as, but not limited
to, prescription by a licensed medical professional or testimony of a religious or
cultural leader or expert.

SECTION 7. Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion. The police officer, prosecutor, or
any law enforcer shall not apprehend, arrest, detain, list, profile, or subject to
surveillance persons who use or possess, purchase, or cultivate controlled substances
for personal, cultural, spiritual, religious, or medical purpose but shall divert them to
a community-based health and social support program.


SECTION 8. Economic Alternatives. The Department of Social Welfare and
Development, in coordination with local government units, shall develop specific
viable and sustainable economic alternatives for individuals and communities who
are particularly vulnerable to exploitation in the illicit drug economy and people who
are dependent thereon.

The State shall ensure that interventions, such as crop eradications, does not take
place until small-farmer households dependent on illicit drug crop economies have
adopted viable and sustainable alternative livelihoods.

ARTICLE IV.
Harm Reduction and Integrated Social Support

SECTION 9. Harm Reduction Services. The State shall provide scientific, evidence-
based information, facilities, goods, and services on drug use prevention, overdose
prevention and response, as well as harm reduction services, including tools to reduce
harms of overdose, HIV, viral hepatitis, and other infections and injuries which may
or may not be associated with drug use.

SECTION 10. Informed Consent. Treatment for drug dependence shall be
undertaken only with informed consent of patient or client and where medically
indicated, under no circumstances extends beyond the period determined by health
professionals. There shall be no penalties charged to a client or patient for failure to
complete treatment or any program related to drug dependence.

SECTION 11. Voluntary Community-Based Programs. Compulsory drug
rehabilitation centers and treatment rehabilitation facilities shall be converted to
voluntary, community-based, and evidence-based health and social support
programs.

Law enforcement shall be prohibited from establishing and operating rehabilitation
or reformation centers for people involved in drug-related offenses. Existing
rehabilitation or reformation centers shall be converted to voluntary, community-
based, and evidence-based health and social support program which shall be under
the supervision and guidance of the Department of Health.

SECTION 12. Integrated Social Support. People who use drugs, people dependent on
illicit drug economies, people in prisons and other places of detention or closed
settings, and people who have been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drug
related offences, as well those enrolled in the community-based health and social
support programs have the right to social security, including access to public and
private insurance.


Corannawnne

The State shall ensure people whose lives include drugs are not denied the right to
universal access to health care and social assistance on the basis of drug use, drug
dependence, and involvement in drug-related offences.

ARTICLE V.
Protection of Vulnerable Groups

SECTION 13. Children. The State shall ensure that children have the right to receive
accurate and objective information about drugs and drug-related harms, the right to
protection from harmful misinformation, and the right to privacy.

A.

The Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education,
and other educational institutions, as well as the Sangguniang Kabataan
shall undertake undertake evidence-based and human rights-compliant
prevention measures in schools, in the communities, and in other places of
learning.

Subjecting children to Oplan Tokhang, drug testing, sniffer dogs, strip
searches, or inclusion in a drug list or drug registry and other similar
activities shall be prohibited. Expulsion, suspension, and other forms of
discipline against children and students due to drug use and other risk
taking behavior shall likewise be prohibited.

The Department of Health shall provide evidence-based, age-appropriate
drug prevention, drug dependence treatment, and harm reduction
information, programs, and services and that access thereto shall give
primacy to the best interest of the child and their evolving capacities.

. The Department of Social Welfare and Development shall ensure that a

parent's drug use or dependency is never the sole justification for removing
a child from prenatal care or for preventing reunification after treatment
or incarceration. Efforts should be directed primarily towards enabling the
child to remain in or return to the care of their parents, including drug-
dependent parents in carrying out their child care responsibilities.
Exploitation of children in the illicit drug trade shall not be a basis for
persecution, surveillance, investigation, arrest, and filing of a criminal
charge against children involved thereto.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of
Education, the Department of Interior and Local Government, and the local
government units shall provide children-at-risk (CAR) and children in
conflict with the law (CICL) with community-based programs ensuring
their continued education in schools, alternative learning systems,
vocational studies, internship and other learning opportunities as well as
access to age-appropriate, gender-sensitive, and evidence-based health,
harm reduction, and mental health services.



SECTION 14. Women. The State shall ensure that women who use drugs, involved
in the drug trade, or dependent on illicit drug economies, shall have the right to access
health care, including sexual and reproductive care, on a nondiscriminatory basis.

A. The Department of Health shall provide access to non-discriminatory,
evidence-based gender-sensitive prevention, treatment, harm reduction,
and other health care services for women who use dugs, including
appropriate drug dependency treatment for pregnant women.

B. The Department of Social Welfare and Development shall ensure that a
woman's drug use or dependency is never the sole justification for removing
achild from her care and custody or preventing reunification with her child
after treatment or incarceration.

C. The Department of Justice shall provide alternative penalties, including
non-custodial sentences, for women deprived of liberty involved in drug-
related crimes who are pregnant or by reason of any other reproductive
health concern. Alternatives to incarceration shall also be provided to
women in consideration of its caretaking responsibilities to her small child
or children, lack of criminal history, and the relative non-severity and
nature of the criminal conduct by reason of which she is detained.

D. All healthcare service providers shall ensure that any medical treatment or
diagnostic intervention for women are conducted with her voluntary and
informed consent. Use or dependence on controlled substances alone shall
be considered as grounds for detention or deprivation of the right of the
woman to withhold consent.

E. The Department of Social Welfare and Development shall develop specific,
viable, and sustainable economic alternatives for women who are
particularly at risk of exploitation in the illicit drug economy, including
women who use drugs, poor women, and women from indigenous and ethnic
minority communities.

SECTION 16. Persons Deprived of Liberty. All persons deprived of their liberty must
be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the person.
They shall have the right to a standard of health care equivalent to that available to
the general population.

A. The State, through the Department of Justice, shall adopt the United
Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners or the
Nelson Mandela Rules as well as the international standards relating to
specific groups deprived of their liberty, including women (the Bangkok
Rules), and children (the Beijing Rules) as well as other protocols and
guidelines issued by the United Nations on persons deprived of liberty.

B. The Department of Heath shall ensure that all persons deprived of liberty
have access to voluntary and evidence-based health services, including
harm reduction and drug treatment services, as well as essential medicines,


including HIV and hepatitis C services, at a standard that is equivalent to
that in the community. The same shall be continued and sustained through
transitions, entering and exiting detention facilities, including transfers
between institutions and jurisdictions.

C. The State, through the Department of Justice, Department of Health,
Department of Social Welfare and Development and the local government
units shall establish and implement a social reintegration program for
persons deprived of liberty who upon release shall have guaranteed access
to livelihood and employment opportunities, health services, education,
family and community reunification, and other support programs and
services.

SECTION 16. Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous peoples have the rights to self
determination and to freely pursue their economic, social, cultural, traditional, and
spiritual development within their ancestral domain in accordance with the
Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA).

A. The State shall ensure that drug control measures shall not deprive
indigenous peoples their rights to own, use, develop, and control their lands,
territories, and resources within their ancestral domain.

B. The relevant local government unit shall require a comprehensive
environmental impact assessment, with participation of relevant
indigenous peoples, in order to assess the environmental, economic, social,
cultural, traditional, and spiritual impact of drug control activities on an
ancestral domain prior to their commencement. Relevant indigenous
peoples shall have the right to be consulted and to give or withhold their
free, prior, and informed consent before any drug control measures may be
undertaken affecting their ancestral domain.

C. Indigenous Peoples shall have the right to use and cultivate plant-based
substances that have psychoactive effects as part of their cultural, spiritual,
religious practices, including their traditional sources of nutrition,
medicines, livelihood, ceremonies, that form part of traditional and
spiritual health practices and ethnic identity. Drug control measures that
interfere with Indigenous Peoples’ exercise of their cultural, spiritual, and
religious practices, shall be prohibited.

ARTICLE VI
Prohibited Acts

SECTION 17. Mandatory Drug Testing. Mandatory drug testing in schools,
workplaces, and other public or private places are hereby prohibited. No drug
testing shall be conducted as requirement for admission or enrolment in schools and
other alternative learning institutions, as well as made a condition for employment
or for renewal of business permit, license, or franchise.


SECTION 18. Violation of Privacy and Unlawful Interference. Arbitrary and
unlawful interference with the privacy, family life, home, and correspondence of
people whose lives include drugs shall be prohibited. It shall likewise be prohibited
to disclose an individual's personal health data, including drug test results and drug
dependence treatment histories, without his or her free and informed consent.

SECTION 19. Torture and Cruel Punishment. Torture and other cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment or punishment during the arrest, questioning, and detention of
persons alleged to have committed drug-related crimes or otherwise implicated
during an investigation are prohibited. The withholding of drugs from those who need
them for medical purposes, including for drug dependence treatment and pain relief,
whether in a public or private facility or program, is considered a form of torture.

SECTION 20. Corporal punishment. Corporal punishment for drug-related offences
or as part of drug dependency treatment shall be prohibited.

SECTION 21. Involuntary Treatment and Compulsory Detention. Any person shall
not be subjected to involuntary treatment and compulsory detention for their drug
use or drug dependence.

SECTION 22. Traumatic Physical and Psychological Intervention. Any intervention
which inflicts physical or psychological trauma to people whose lives include drugs
are prohibited, including, but not limited to, deprivation of food and water, dosing of
cold water, blindfolding, confinement in enclosed spaces, verbal abuse, flogging,
whipping, electroshock, forced evangelization or participation in religious practices
and similar violent and harmful interventions.

SECTION 23. Non-Disclosure of Effects of Medications and Treatment. Physicians
and medical practitioners are prohibited from not disclosing relevant information
regarding medication and treatment to people whose lives include drugs which will
assist the patient or client and his family to make informed choices as regards
medication and treatment plans.

SECTION 24. Denial of Health Services by Virtue of Health Status. It is prohibited
to deny any health service to a person whose lives include drugs by virtue of his or
her or their health status, including, but not limited to, HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C
status, or drug dependence.

SECTION 25. Denial of Health Services by Virtue of Drug Use. It is prohibited to
deny any health service to a person by virtue of his or her or their past or present
history of drug use.

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SECTION 26. Prohibition of Arrest of a Good Samaritan. Any person who assists a
person whose life include drugs who needs urgent medical attention shall not be
arrested or prosecuted for any drug-use related activity.

SECTION 27. Information Misrepresentation. It shall be prohibited to withhold or
intentionally misrepresent information about matters to drug policies, programs, and
practices, including information regarding health services for people whose lives
include drugs, including harm reduction interventions, the composition of controlled
drugs; the value, meaning, and benefits of traditional, cultural, and religious uses of
substances; the human rights of people who use drugs or are otherwise involved in
drug-related activities: and reforms to such laws, policies, and practices.

SECTION 28. Penalties. Any public officer who is guilty of committing any of the
prohibited acts will be administratively liable for suspension for six (6) months
without pay for the first time, suspension for 12 months without pay for the second
time, and removal from office and perpetual disqualification for the third time.

Any physician, medical practitioner, or health personnel who is guilty of committing
any of the prohibited acts will be administratively liable for suspension of license to
practice for six (6) months for the first time, suspension of license to practice for nine
(12) months for the second time, and revocation of license of the third time.

The penalties provided for in this act is without prejudice to any civil damages that
may be imposed by law to the liable public officer, physician, medical practitioner, or
health personnel as well as to the private person, natural or juridical, who violated
provisions of this Act.

ARTICLE VII
Final Provisions

SECTION 29. Congressional Oversight Committee. A Joint Congressional Oversight
Committee (COC) is hereby constituted which is mandated to review the
implementation of this Act. The COC shall be composed of five (5) members from the
Senate and five (5) members from the House of Representatives to be appointed by
the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively.
The COC shall be jointly chaired by the Chairpersons of the Senate Committee on
Health and Demography and the House of Representatives Committee on Health.

The Secretariat of the COC shall be drawn from the existing secretariat personnel of
the standing committees composing the Congressional Oversight Committee and its
funding requirements shall be charged under the appropriations of both the House of
Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines.

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SECTION 30. Appropriations. The amount needed for the initial implementation of
this Act shall be charged against the appropriations for the DOH. Thereafter, such
sums as maybe necessary for the continued implementation of this Act shall be
included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 31. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The DOH shall promulgate the
Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for this Act within ninety (90) days from
its constitution. Failure to promulgate the IRR shall not affect the implementation of
the self-executory provisions of this Act.

SECTION 82. Separability Clause. If any provision or section of this Act is held
invalid, the other provisions and sections not affected thereby shall remain in full
force and effect.

SECTION 83. Repealing Clause. All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders and
their implementing rules inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby

repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 34. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,

2