Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal, often referred to by her initials PGMA and GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who previously served as the 14th President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010. She is the longest serving president of the Philippines since Ferdinand Marcos. Before her accession to the presidency, she served as the 10th Vice President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001 under President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, making her the country's first female vice president, despite having run on an opposing ticket. She was also a Senator from 1992 to 1998. After her presidency, she was elected as the Representative of Pampanga's 2nd district in 2010 and later became the Speaker of the House of Representatives on 2018 to 2019. She was also serving in the congress as a Deputy Speaker from 2016 to 2017 and from 2022 until 2023. She is one of the only 2 Filipinos to hold at least three of the four highest offices in the country: vice president, president, and house speaker, alongside former President Sergio Osmeña.
Diosdado Pangan Macapagal was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the ninth President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice President, serving from 1957 to 1961. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970. He was the father of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who followed his path as President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010.
The Department of Budget and Management is an executive body under the Office of the President of the Philippines. It is responsible for the sound and efficient use of government resources for national development and also as an instrument for the meeting of national socio-economic and political development goals.
This article covers the history of the current Philippine republican state following the 1986 People Power Revolution, known as the Fifth Philippine Republic.
The Revised Penal Code contains the general penal laws of the Philippines. First enacted in 1930, it remains in effect today, despite several amendments thereto. It does not comprise a comprehensive compendium of all Philippine penal laws. The Revised Penal Code itself was enacted as Act No. 3815, and some Philippine criminal laws have been enacted outside of the Revised Penal Code as separate Republic Acts.
Orlando Sanchez Mercado, better known as Orly Mercado, is a Filipino politician and broadcast journalist best known for having served as a senator of the Philippines from 1987 to 1998, Secretary of Defense from 1998 to 2001, and for his long career as a broadcast journalist, most famously for hosting the television program Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko.
Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines are illegal executions – unlawful or felonious killings – and forced disappearances in the Philippines. These are forms of extrajudicial punishment, and include extrajudicial executions, summary executions, arbitrary arrest and detentions, and failed prosecutions due to political activities of leading political, trade union members, dissident or social figures, left-wing political parties, non-governmental organizations, political journalists, outspoken clergy, anti-mining activists, agricultural reform activists, members of organizations that are alleged as allied or legal fronts of the communist movement or claimed supporters of the NPA and its political wing, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Other frequent targets are ancestral land rights defenders, Indigenous rights activists, environmentalists, and human rights workers.
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency is the lead anti-drug law enforcement agency, responsible for preventing, investigating and combating any dangerous drugs, controlled precursors and essential chemicals within the Philippines. The agency is tasked with the enforcement of the penal and regulatory provisions of Republic Act No. 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, officially designated as Republic Act No. 9208, is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 2444 and House Bill No. 4432. It was enacted and passed by Congress of the Philippines' Senate of the Philippines and House of Representatives of the Philippines assembled on May 12, 2003, and signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on May 26, 2003. It institutes policies to eliminate and punish human trafficking, especially women and children, establishing the necessary institutional mechanisms for the protection and support of trafficked persons. It aims "to promote human dignity, protect the people from any threat of violence and exploitation, and mitigate pressures for involuntary migration and servitude of persons, not only to support trafficked persons but more importantly, to ensure their recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration into the mainstream of society."
The National Security Council is the principal forum of the president of the Philippines considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials.
The prevalence of illegal drug use in the Philippines is lower than the global average, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). President Rodrigo Duterte has claimed that the country could become a "narco-state". Two of the most used and valuable illegal drugs in the country are methamphetamine hydrochloride and marijuana. In 2012, the United Nations said the Philippines had the highest rate of methamphetamine use in East Asia, and according to a U.S. State Department report, 2.1 percent of Filipinos aged 16 to 64 use the drug based on 2008 figures by the Philippines Dangerous Drugs Board. As of 2016, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime report that 1.1 percent of Filipinos aged 10 to 69 use the drug. In Metro Manila, most barangays are affected by illegal drugs.
Pantaleon Diaz Alvarez is a Filipino lawyer and politician serving as the Representative of Davao del Norte's 1st district since 2016, previously holding the position from 1998 to 2001. He served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2016 to 2018. He also served as the Secretary of Transportation and Communications in the Cabinet of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from 2001 to 2002.
The Philippine drug war, known as the War on Drugs, is the intensified anti-drug campaign that began during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, who served office from June 30, 2016, to June 30, 2022. The campaign reduced drug proliferation in the country, but has been marred by extrajudicial killings allegedly perpetrated by the police and unknown assailants. An estimated 7,742 civilians have been killed in "anti-drug operations" carried out by the government and its supporters between 2016 and 2021.
The cultivation and use of cannabis is illegal in the Philippines under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. As the Philippines is a signatory to the 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, Cannabis is classified as a Schedule I drug, which limits its use to medical and scientific purposes. Marijuana is the second most used drug in the Philippines, after shabu (methamphetamine), and most cultivation in the country is for local consumption. Cannabis is cultivated mostly in the remote, mountainous regions of Luzon and Mindanao.
The Anti-Distracted Driving Act (ADDA), officially designated as Republic Act No. 10913, is a Philippine law that prohibits distracted driving by restricting and penalizing the use of mobile phones and other electronics devices while driving on any public thoroughfare, highway, or street in the Philippines. The republic act defines "distracted driving" as "using mobile communications device to write, send, or read a text-based communication or to make or receive calls" or "using an electronic entertainment or computing device to play games, watch movies, surf the internet, compose messages, read e-books, perform calculations, and other similar acts" while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle or while temporarily stopped at a red light. The law covers all private and public vehicles, including agricultural machines, construction equipment, public utility buses and jeepneys, taxicabs, motorcycles, tricycles, pedicabs, kuligligs and carriages.
The Dangerous Drugs Board is a government agency tasked in creating policies in dealing with illegal drugs in the Philippines.
The 2018 State of the Nation Address was the third State of the Nation Address delivered by President Rodrigo Duterte.
The Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) is an inter-governmental forum in the Philippines responsible for ensuring government agencies in implementing and complying with all policies pertaining to the anti-illegal drug campaign. The agency was formed by Executive Order No. 5, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on March 6, 2017.
The Philippine House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, or House Dangerous Drugs Committee is a standing committee of the Philippine House of Representatives.
On March 15, 2022, law enforcement agents intercepted three vans in Brgy. Comon, Infanta, Quezon, Philippines, seized ₱11 billion worth of illegal drugs. The operation was described as the "biggest drug haul in Philippine history".
