Question & AnswerQ&A (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 492)
The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has the principal authority to oversee and supervise the implementation of the MARS Program, with the National Security Adviser (NSA) serving as the principal adviser on national reconnaissance and surveillance activities.
NICA serves as the technical operator of the MARS system, authorized to procure or lease UAVs, and is responsible for establishing the National Maritime Aerial Reconnaissance and Surveillance Center (NMARSC) to coordinate national reconnaissance and surveillance activities.
The NMARSC is a multi-agency body created under NICA to serve as the focal point for national reconnaissance and surveillance activities and operations. It is headed by an Executive Director and remains under the supervision and control of the ONSA.
Beneficiary-agencies include the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Department of Finance (DOF) with the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) with the Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of National Defense (DND) including Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) with the Forest Management Bureau (FMB) and NAMRIA, Department of Agriculture (DA) with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Tourism (DOT), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and NICA itself.
Beneficiary-agencies shall shoulder the costs of their actual use of the UAV systems and proportionate share in maintenance costs. Projected use costs must be included in their annual department budgets for the General Appropriations Act.
The National Security Adviser has the authority to coordinate inter-agency requirements, supervise the acquisition of reconnaissance and surveillance equipment including UAVs, and secure necessary funds for these acquisitions.
The MARS Program shall be implemented through joint use, with the ONSA overseeing the formulation of terms of reference and pursuing memorandum of understandings among beneficiary agencies to allocate costs based on actual use.
The Department of Budget and Management was directed to release an initial funding of Five Million Pesos (₱5,000,000) from available President's Contingency Fund to NICA for activation of NMARSC, program management, and specialized training costs.
If any provision is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of the Executive Order shall remain valid and subsisting as per the Separability Clause in Section 8.