Short answer. Yes. Section 19 punishes any person who, without authority, makes or issues a prescription — or any writing purporting to be one — for a dangerous drug. You do not have to be a doctor; the offence is aimed at unauthorised persons. The section as enacted set a penalty up to death, but that maximum can no longer be imposed.
What the law says
unless authorized by law, shall make or issue a prescription or any other writing purporting to be a prescription for any dangerous drug
RA 9165, Section 19 — Unlawful Prescription Of Drugs. Read the full provision →
The offence does not require a licence
Section 19, unlawful prescription of dangerous drugs, is the mirror image of the offences aimed at practitioners. It reaches any person who, unless authorized by law, shall make or issue a prescription or any other writing purporting to be a prescription for any dangerous drug. The key word is authority. Where a real practitioner over-prescribes, the wrong is misuse of a genuine power; here the wrong is that the maker had no prescribing authority in the first place. Not being a doctor is not a defence — it is much closer to the point of the section.
Why 'purporting to be a prescription' is broad
The statute does not limit itself to a document that looks like a formal prescription pad. It covers a prescription or any other writing purporting to be a prescription. That phrasing catches informal notes, altered forms and improvised documents — anything put forward as if it authorised a dangerous drug. The offence lies in creating or issuing the writing without authority, so it can be complete well before any drug actually changes hands. The document itself, presented as a prescription it is not entitled to be, is the conduct the law targets.
The stated penalty has been overtaken
As written, Section 19 imposes life imprisonment to death and a large fine. That upper end can no longer be applied. Republic Act No. 9346 (2006) prohibited the imposition of the death penalty throughout Philippine law and provides for reclusion perpetua in its place. So the real maximum today is reclusion perpetua, not death, even though older copies of the drug law still print the original wording. Any source that recites death as a live penalty for this offence is reproducing text that a later statute has already displaced.
How it differs from an over-prescribing doctor
It helps to keep the two prescription offences apart. Section 18 punishes a licensed practitioner for prescribing a dangerous drug a patient does not need; the offender there has real authority and abuses it. Section 19 punishes the unauthorised person who fabricates or issues the prescription at all. Which provision is in play turns on whether the maker held prescribing authority. Anyone facing an allegation under Section 19 should have the actual document and the circumstances of its making reviewed with counsel, since the authority question is where these cases are decided.