Duterte reorganizes Nat’l Intelligence Committee

President Duterte signed Administrative Order (AO) No. 7, reorganizing the National Intelligence Committee (NIC) to provide greater unity and cohesion of the intelligence community.

Duterte, in his AO signed on Friday, also amended former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s AO No. 68 which aimed to strengthen the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).

The NIC was organized to serve as advisory body to the director general (DG), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (DG, NICA) for the coordination, integration, and fusion of all intelligence activities relating to the preparation of the National Intelligence Estimate and in addressing issues of national intelligence concerns.

Under the AO, the NIC, which is chaired by the DG, NICA, is now composed of the Department of Foreign Affairs; National Bureau of Investigation; the Customs, and Immigration bureaus; the Armed Forces of the Philippines; the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency; the Philippine Coast Guard; and the Office for Transportation Security.

Duterte said there is a need to provide more focused and cleared delineation of tasks among units or agencies involved in the gathering of intelligence on national security and concerns.

This is in order to preclude unnecessary duplication of intelligence activities, and to ensure complete coverage of intelligence concerns as well as promote the judicious use of government resources.

“The country’s internal and external security situation necessitates greater inter-agency collaboration in the collection, fusion and production of accurate, relevant, reliable and timely intelligence for the formulation of national security policies by the President and the National Security Council (NSC),” Duterte said in his AO.

The President also said the NICA is the focal point for the direction, integration, and coordination of all government activities involving national intelligence, as well as the preparation of national intelligence estimates on local and foreign situations.