Senator Robin Padilla has renewed his call for the Senate to act on Senate Bill No. 15, or the Cannabis Medicalization Act of the Philippines, following recent developments in U.S. policy on medical cannabis.
Filed in July 2025, the measure seeks to legalize and regulate medical cannabis for qualified patients but has remained pending since July 29, 2025. “To my dearest colleagues, knock knock po!” Padilla wrote on Facebook as he urged senators to begin deliberations.
Padilla cited an April 22, 2026 U.S. Department of Justice order placing FDA-approved marijuana products and medicinal marijuana products covered by qualifying state licenses under Schedule III. The order did not reclassify marijuana in full. A separate proceeding on moving marijuana generally from Schedule I to Schedule III remains pending, with hearings scheduled through July 15.
He also cited the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs’ 2020 decision to remove cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention following a World Health Organization recommendation. Cannabis remains under Schedule I and subject to international controls.
The bill would create a Philippine Medical Cannabis Authority under the Department of Health to regulate cultivation, production, distribution, prescription, dispensing and monitoring. It defines medical cannabis as pharmaceutical products containing cannabidiol with no more than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol.
Only trained and licensed physicians with a Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency S2 license could prescribe it. The measure also proposes prescription monitoring, plant tracking, QR-coded patient cards and security rules for licensed operators.
Access would be limited to qualified patients with serious and debilitating conditions identified through clinical guidelines. The bill sets penalties for violations and safeguards against misuse, diversion and unauthorized recreational use.
It remains pending before the Senate committees on health, public order and finance.
