President Rodrigo Duterte has reorganized the National Intelligence Committee (NIC) by expanding its membership to include the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Duterte included PDEA amid his war on drugs.

Administrative Order (AO) No. 7 signed by Duterte on September 22 is now composed of nine agencies from previously seven.

The other agencies added as NIC members were the Philippine Coast Guard and Office for Transportation Security.

The NIC member agencies which remain to be such are the Department of Foreign Affairs, National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of Customs, Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police.

The Presidential Security Group is no longer a member of the NIC, which is chaired by the director general of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.

The NICA director general is the principal adviser of the president in intelligence matters.

The NIC was "reorganized and revitalized" to serve as a vital mechanism for intelligence management, and as an instrument for promoting greater unity and cohesion of the intelligence community, the AO said.

Under the AO, each member-agency shall designate its higher ranking intelligence official or its equivalent as permanent representative to the NIC.

The NIC is authorized to call upon any other government agency or instrumentality to assist the Committee.

It shall also continue to be assisted by the Regional Intelligence Committees. Celerina Monte/DMS