01 April 2015 – The National Committee on Illegal Entrants (NCIE) formally presented the NCIE Legal Handbook to its Chairman, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Albert F. del Rosario, on March 27, thereby officially launching it for use by the NCIE, as well as by the Regional Committees and Provincial Committees on Illegal Entrants (RCIEs and PCIEs) all over the country. The NCIE delegation was headed by Office of Consular Affairs (OCA) Assistant Secretary Wilfredo C. Santos who personally presented the NCIE Legal Handbook to the Secretary.

The NCIE was established through the promulgation of Executive Order No. 236, s. 1995, and was given the task to serve as an inter-agency coordinative committee, composed of 13 government agencies, mandated to facilitate the expeditious resolution of cases of illegal entry into Philippine territory, particularly that of foreign vessels. The NCIE is chaired by the DFA, with the Department of Justice (DOJ) as Vice-Chair, and the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) as Co-Vice Chairs.

The NCIE decided to have a Legal Handbook printed covering the legal bases of the NCIE and all applicable laws necessary for the prosecution of illegal entrants in order to ensure that members of the NCIE, RCIEs, and PCIEs, particularly those directly involved in the apprehension and investigation of illegal entrants have information about the pertinent laws and regulations to facilitate effective disposition of such cases.

Further editions of the NCIE Legal Handbook shall be printed once the need for such arises. END