Legal basis and referenced issuances
- The issuance is made by the President “by virtue of the powers vested” in the President by law under the enacting clause.
- Section 5 requires continued administrative supervision of the NICA by the National Security Adviser, as provided in E.O. 69, s. of 2002.
- Section 7 repeals or modifies inconsistent presidential issuances, except E.O. 246, s. of 1987.
Policy and purpose mandate
- The order directs streamlining of the intelligence community to make it responsive to challenges posed by terrorism under the recitals.
- The order requires timely, relevant, and useful intelligence by coordinating, directing, and integrating national intelligence gathering activities of the government at all levels.
- The order establishes NICA as the focal point for preparing intelligence estimates of local and foreign situations for national policy formulation by the President under Section 1.
Strengthened role of NICA
- Section 1 assigns NICA principal authority to direct, coordinate, and integrate all government activities involving national intelligence.
- NICA continues to serve as the focal point for the preparation of intelligence estimates of local and foreign situations for the formulation of national policies by the President.
- As lead intelligence collection agency of the national government, NICA operates directly under the Office of the President and is accountable to the President.
- The Director General (DG), NICA serves as the principal adviser to the President on intelligence.
- The DG must undertake measures to streamline and strengthen the intelligence community, including counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, foreign intelligence, and economic intelligence.
- The DG must establish a Directorate for Counter-intelligence as the focal point for the national government’s counter-intelligence activities and operations.
- NICA is authorized to request secondment of personnel from other government offices to NICA.
- NICA may detail NICA liaison officers to other government departments, agencies, and offices as needed.
- The order empowers NICA to request and manage inter-agency intelligence support through secondment and liaison arrangements under Section 1.
National Intelligence Committee (NIC) structure
- The order creates a National Intelligence Committee (NIC) as an advisory body to the DG, NICA for coordination, integration, and fusion of intelligence activities.
- The NIC supports preparation of the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and addresses other issues of national intelligence concern.
- The NIC is structured as a collegial body to promote unity and cohesion of the national intelligence community.
- The NIC prescribes policy guidelines and directives to various national government units, agencies, and offices engaged in activities involving national intelligence under Section 2.
Membership
- The NIC is chaired by the DG, NICA.
- NIC members are:
- the Undersecretary for Policy, Department of Foreign Affairs;
- the Director, National Bureau of Investigation;
- the Commissioner, Bureau of Customs;
- the Commissioner, Bureau of Immigration;
- the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, J2, Armed Forces of the Philippines;
- the Director for Intelligence, Philippine National Police; and
- the Commanding Officer, Presidential Security Group.
- The DG, NICA may designate resource persons to be invited to participate in NIC meetings as the need arises.
Standing committees
- The NIC must create inter-agency standing committees tasked to:
- prepare national intelligence reports, assessments, and plans for NIC approval and dissemination; and
- ensure appropriate inputs are received from other agencies that have allocated intelligence tasks.
Secretariat
- The NIC has a Secretariat responsible for all technical and administrative matters affecting the Committee.
- The Director, Office for Policies, Plans and Programs of the NICA supervises the NIC Secretariat.
Regional Intelligence Committees (RICs)
- The NIC is assisted by Regional Intelligence Committees (RICs) in all regions of the country.
- RICs, in consonance with appropriate NIC guidelines, direct and coordinate intelligence efforts at the regional and local levels to ensure efficient and effective coverage of threats to national security.
- RICs coordinate all regional and local government intelligence units and agencies to integrate and fuse information of national intelligence concern gathered at those levels.
- Each RIC is chaired by the Director of the NICA Regional Office.
- Each RIC includes as members the regional counterparts of the NIC members.
- RICs periodically submit reports on accomplishments, special intelligence reports, and other intelligence concerns to the NIC through the DG, NICA.
- The DG, NICA receives RIC reports and furnishes copies to the concerned Area CTICs.
Reportorial requirements
- As Chairman, the DG, NICA prescribes the NIC’s reportorial requirements, including the system for integrating at the national level reports generated by civilian, police, and military intelligence agencies at the regional and local levels.
Source control system
- The NIC establishes a source control system to:
- cover all intelligence gaps;
- preclude and eliminate intelligence peddling; and
- deter unrestricted dissemination of misleading information.
Security clearance
- The NIC prescribes and promulgates a national security clearance system for the government service.
Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Centers (CTICs)
- The order institutionalizes the Counter Terrorism Intelligence Center (CTIC) as a multi-agency body under the direction and control of the DG, NICA.
- The CTIC’s mission is to provide overall coordination in intelligence operations to facilitate gathering, processing, disseminating, and sharing of intelligence on terrorism, especially international terrorism under Section 3.
- The order establishes Area Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Centers (Area CTICs) in the various area unified commands of the AFP.
- Area CTICs capture and fuse intelligence outputs at operational and tactical levels with emphasis on domestic and international terrorism.
- Area CTICs focus on fusing the intelligence outputs of all intelligence agencies—civil, military, and police—in their respective areas of operations.
Foreign intelligence and intelligence sharing
- The DG, NICA must establish and strengthen liaison work between NICA and foreign counterpart intelligence and security organizations/services.
- The DG must designate points of contact of foreign counterpart intelligence organizations within the Intelligence Community and other government departments/agencies.
- The DG is the approving authority for granting official accreditation of foreign counterpart intelligence organizations with the police, military, or other intelligence units of the government.
- The DG must review working arrangements of local intelligence organizations and agencies with foreign intelligence organizations to maximize the country’s benefit from a more manageable and effective intelligence sharing system.
- The NICA must coordinate its Foreign Liaison Program with:
- the Armed Forces of the Philippines;
- the Philippine National Police;
- the Department of Foreign Affairs; and
- other agencies regularly posting representatives overseas, including the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Tourism, and Department of Labor and Employment.
- The Foreign Liaison Program must rationalize the deployment of NICA liaison officers in priority states.
Relationship with NSA/NSC/NIB
- The NICA and the NIC must provide support services to the National Security Adviser/National Security Council and the National Intelligence Board.
- The NIC acts as the principal arm of the National Intelligence Board for direction and control of intelligence operations and activities of National Intelligence Board members and their departments, agencies, and offices.
- The NICA remains under the administrative supervision of the National Security Adviser, as provided for in E.O. 69, s. of 2002.
Funding, repeals, and effectivity
- Additional funding requirements for expanded responsibilities and tasks of the agency must be sourced from the Office of the President for the current year and included in succeeding appropriations of the agency under Section 6.
- Section 7 deems all executive orders (except E.O. 246, s. of 1987) and other presidential issuances, or parts thereof, relating to national intelligence activities that are inconsistent with this Administrative Order as repealed or modified accordingly.
- Section 8 states that the Administrative Order takes effect immediately.
- The order was adopted on 08 April 2003 and signed by the Executive Secretary Alberto G. Romulo.