Mr Lee Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 (edited) Prescription Narcotics are prohibited in the PhilippinesHere is something that I did not know and just found out, it seems most pain killers are prohibited in the Philippines. Yup, that means they are not even sold there and a person who is carrying them, most likely is in violation of local laws and might get deported or even worse, arrested and spend the rest of their lives in a jail cell. Read the list on the page below and if your drug is on it, be careful. http://www.bfad.gov.ph/pdf/RegulatoryGuida.../AO107s1991.pdf Edited June 14, 2009 by Mr. Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Now that's interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted June 14, 2009 Author Posted June 14, 2009 Now that's interesting.Yes it is. While I am allergic to most pain killers beyond Tylenol, and do not carry anything like that with me into the Philippines, I would bet a lot of foreigners do and they could easily be arrested for it and end up spending some serious time in a Philippine jail for having with them, what is legal for them in their own countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Now that's interesting.Yes it is. While I am allergic to most pain killers beyond Tylenol, and do not carry anything like that with me into the Philippines, I would bet a lot of foreigners do and they could easily be arrested for it and end up spending some serious time in a Philippine jail for having with them, what is legal for them in their own countries.For me, I bounce around between Tylenol, Ibuprofin, Asprin, Aleve, etc. (Boy do I sound like a druggie........lol) What I mean is, I only use one kind at a time and try to never take it more than one bottle in a row. Tend to build up a resistance. Well, one exception, Jack Daniels....LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMason Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 That link is for a bulletin put out in 1991. It may or may not be relevant today. Most of the drugs you mention are on the regulated or prohibited list. It does not say those drugs are illegal. It says they are either regulated or prohibited. The Canadian government lists info for its citizens travelling to the Philippines and it addresses how prescription drugs should be handled:Travellers carrying prescription drugs should bring a letter from their physician stating the condition for which they are receiving treatment and the dosage. The amount of prescription drugs brought into the country should be sufficient for the duration of their stay. Those travelling onward to another country are advised that a separate quantity of prescription drugs should be sealed and declared again before departing the country.I don't think travellers with a legitimate prescription will be arrested, jailed, deported, or harassed.They can and do prescribe morphine for cancer patients in the Philippines, so I don't think concern about legally prescribed painkillers is warranted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted June 14, 2009 Author Posted June 14, 2009 That link is for a bulletin put out in 1991. It may or may not be relevant today. Most of the drugs you mention are on the regulated or prohibited list. It does not say those drugs are illegal. It says they are either regulated or prohibited. The Canadian government lists info for its citizens travelling to the Philippines and it addresses how prescription drugs should be handled:Travellers carrying prescription drugs should bring a letter from their physician stating the condition for which they are receiving treatment and the dosage. The amount of prescription drugs brought into the country should be sufficient for the duration of their stay. Those travelling onward to another country are advised that a separate quantity of prescription drugs should be sealed and declared again before departing the country.I don't think travellers with a legitimate prescription will be arrested, jailed, deported, or harassed.They can and do prescribe morphine for cancer patients in the Philippines, so I don't think concern about legally prescribed painkillers is warranted.Please note that one list is regulated and one list is prohibited.Now, while I do not wish to argue with you, and it does seem strange, but here is a synonym page you should look athttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prohibitedSynonymsbannedcontrabandillegalillicitSo prohibited means illegal and banned and therefore should also mean that a person who has any, could be charged and jailed.As I am sure you are well aware, nothing is written in stone in the Philippines and laws are broken everyday, but I think it is important for travelers and people who may live within the Philippines, to know that it may be illegal for them to posses, and that they do so at their own risk. So unless someone can show me a newer list that does not show those drugs as prohibited, or something from the Philippine government that says it would be legal to have, I am pretty sure that it would be illegal, prescription or not.Heck marijuana is legal in some places in the states by prescription, do you think the Philippines would allow that even with a written letter from a doctor and a prescription. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mik Posted June 14, 2009 Posted June 14, 2009 Here is a link to the The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act OF 2002:http://www.pdea.gov.ph/documents/RA_9165.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted June 14, 2009 Author Posted June 14, 2009 Here is a link to the The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act OF 2002:http://www.pdea.gov.ph/documents/RA_9165.pdf Thank you Mike, I just printed and read that whole law and IMO like most rules and laws, it seems to be ambiguous and really does not address prescriptions written outside the Philippines or people who have prescriptions medicines and bring them into the Philippines, but it does seem that the purpose of the law as stated in it, was so that it should not prevent people from being treated with hard drugs. The government shall however aim to achieve a balancein the national drug control program so that people with legitimatemedical needs are not prevented from being treated with adequateamounts of appropriate medications, which include the use of dangerousdrugs.I think that they wrote the law so that most doctors would be afraid to issue a prescription for those type of drugs for fear of criminal liability and most drug stores would not carry the drugs for the same reason, as well as the possibility of being broken into. I did a search of Mercury Drugs Philippines for some of the stronger stuff on the list and just did random checks of listed items, and unless I missed something? they do not even stock most of those drugs, which would lead me to believe that they too feel that they might be illegal to dispense or are afraid to. My guess is that they are legal under certain circumstances but that they could only be prescribed in the most serious of cases, which would lead me to believe that a person who looks healthy and is carrying around a bottle of some of those, might end up in jail. Also, it does look like under article I section r, that a person could be charges with trafficking for importation of any dangerous drug. r) Illegal Trafficking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mik Posted June 15, 2009 Posted June 15, 2009 I think a person would have no problems possessing a prescription drug in the original container with his name on the label and in reasonable personal quantities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retired Posted June 15, 2009 Posted June 15, 2009 I have not taken the time to read the links but will later . I can however share a personal experience i have had regarding medications . I have a neurological disorder that requires medications and the first time i saw a neurologist here he could not prescribe the drug i was using as it was not available here . That is not uncommon even for drugs that are not considered as narcotic or dangerous apparently .Anyway , he wrote a perscription for another drug and when we stopped to get it i could not because i did not have my passport with me so had to go home and get that and return . When the order was filled it clearly stated that the drug was classified as a narcotic and potentially dangerous stamped in red . :-)Now , whether this means that a Filipino could not get the drug or was simply a means of recording who bought it i have no idea . As it turned out the drug prescribed was not a correct one for my condition in the first place so i never took it but a couple of times . As a result i never take anything in this country without doing some research on the drug first . This especially relates to " supplements " in this country . My wife recently brought home something classified as such but unfortunately i could not ever find " any " information on the supplement within US medical databases probably because it is a supplement . Point is i would be very careful regarding all medications prescribed in this country . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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