Short answer. Yes. Under RA 9165, the Dangerous Drugs Board may initiate and authorize closure proceedings against non-accredited or substandard rehabilitation centers based on verified reports of human rights violations, subhuman conditions, inadequate medical training, or excessive fees, with the PDEA carrying out the actual closure once the Board has acted.
What the law says
Initiate and authorize closure proceedings against non-accredited and/or substandard rehabilitation centers based on verified reports of human rights violations, subhuman conditions, inadequate medical training and assistance and excessive fees for implementation by the PDEA
RA 9165, Section 81 — Powers And Duties Of The Board. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Recommend the revocation of the professional license of any practitioner who is an owner, co-owner, lessee, or in the employ of the drug establishment
RA 9165, Section 81 — Powers And Duties Of The Board. Read the full provision →
The Board's closure authority
Section 81 of RA 9165 lists the powers of the Dangerous Drugs Board, and one of them is the power to move against rehabilitation facilities that fail to meet accepted standards. The Board can initiate and authorize closure proceedings against non-accredited or substandard rehabilitation centers, but only where the record shows verified reports of human rights violations, subhuman conditions, inadequate medical training and assistance, or excessive fees.
Once the Board authorizes closure, the PDEA carries out the actual proceedings on the ground, so the Board's role is to make the determination and the PDEA's role is to enforce it.
Its broader oversight of treatment programs
Beyond ordering closures, the Board designs national treatment and rehabilitation programs together with the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Development, including aftercare and community service components for people who have completed treatment. It also prescribes the rules governing how rehabilitation centers, drug testing networks, and laboratories may be established in the first place, after a feasibility study conducted with the DOH and other agencies.
Consequences for practitioners involved in a drug establishment
The Board's powers extend to individual professionals as well. It can recommend the revocation of the professional license of any practitioner who is an owner, co-owner, lessee, or employee of a drug establishment, or who manages a partnership, corporation, or other entity that owns or controls one, if that person knowingly participates in, consents to, tolerates, or abets a violation. This is a recommendation to the appropriate licensing authority rather than a penalty the Board imposes itself, and it does not replace any separate criminal case the person may face.
Research, training, and reporting duties
The rest of Section 81 covers the Board's administrative machinery: conducting policy studies and scientific research on dangerous drugs, running public education campaigns, and holding continuing seminars for judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and school authorities. The Board also gathers import, export, and seizure statistics, coordinates with international drug control bodies, and submits annual and periodic reports to the President and to Congress.
What this means in practice
For a family checking whether a facility is legitimate, or for a practitioner connected to one under scrutiny, the closure power under this section is not automatic. It depends on verified findings first being brought to the Board, and any resulting closure or license recommendation can be contested through the proper administrative channels rather than simply imposed. Because the Board only authorizes closure while PDEA carries it out on the ground, a facility disputing the determination has that gap between authorization and enforcement in which to raise its objections.