HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
RECEIVED
pare, 27 JUL 2016

TIME:

Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Quezon City
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS ou
First Regular Session RON UN
2044 SERVICE
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by HON. ALBERTO TOM UNGAB

EXPLANATORY NOTE,

This bill seeks to mandate all male students in public and private universities,
colleges and similar learning institutions to complete the Reserve Officers’ Training
Corps (ROTC) component of the National Service Training Program as requisite for
graduation, amending for the purpose Republic Act No. 9163.

Section 4, Article II of the Philippine Constitution states that:

“The Government may call upon the people to defend the State
and, in the fulfilment thereof, all citizens may be required, under
conditions provided by law, to render personal, military or civil service.”

In the light of recent events in the West Philippine Sea, Filipino citizens may,
by constitutional mandate as stated above, be called to defend Philippine
sovereignty over its territory against incursions by foreign powers, Alongside that
are major natural calamities such as typhoons, floods and landslides which befall our
country every year, and the imminent threat of a catastrophic earthquake recently
described in scientific studies such as the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact
Reduction Study.

Preparedness to reduce the risks and enhance human capacities to respond
to these contemplated situations include training individuals and arming groups and
communities with applicable knowledge and systems.

Under Republic Act No. 7077 which was enacted in 1991, ‘the Citizen Armed
Force shall be so organized, trained, developed and maintained as to ensure their
readiness to immediately respond to the call to service." Alternately referred to as
the Reserve Force, the main mission of the Citizen Armed Forces is to provide the


base for the expansion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the event of war,
invasion or rebellion, and to assist in relief and rescue operations during disasters or
calamities. Section 38 of the same law provides for the mandatory military training
for students enrolled in colleges, universities and similar learning institutions.

However, the mandatory nature of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
(ROTC) program was abolished through the passage of Republic Act No. 9163,
otherwise known as the “National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001.”
Rendering the ROTC component of the NSTP as voluntary made it extremely difficult
to implement the constitutional mandate that all citizens may be required, under
conditions provided by law, to render personal, military or civil service. As a
consequence of RA 9163, there was a considerable drop in ROTC enrollment. It is
now a major concern that our county will no longer have sufficient reserve officers to
render military service in the Citizen Armed Forces when warranted by national
circumstances, whether as a response to a national security threat or catastrophic
emergency.

The country is facing challenging times and it is crucial that we strengthen our
youth's vital role in nation building, To achieve this, the government must reinstate
the mandatory completion of the ROTC.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this measure is earnestly requested



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 2ud4

Introduced by HON, ALBERTO TOM UNGAB

AN ACT
MANDATING ALL MALE STUDENTS IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES,
COLLEGES AND SIMILAR LEARNING INSTITUTIONS TO COMPLETE THE
RESERVE OFFICERS TRAINING CORPS COMPONENT OF THE NATIONAL
SERVICE TRAINNG PROGRAM AS REQUISITE FOR GRADUATION, AMENDING
FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9163, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE
“NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM ACT OF 2001”

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Section 4 of Republic Act No. 9163 is hereby amended to read
as follows:

“Section 4. Establishment of the National Service Training
Program. ~ There is hereby established a National Service Training
Program (NSTP) which shall form part of the curricula of all
baccalaureate degree courses and of at least two (2)-year technical
vocational courses and is a requisite for graduation, consisting of the
following service components:

a) The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) [, which is
hereby made optional and voluntary upon the effectivity
of this Act];

b) The Literacy Training Service; and

c) The Civil Welfare Training Service.


The ROTC under the NSTP shall instill patriotism, moral virtues,
respect for the rights of civilians and adherence to the Constitution,
among others. Citizenship training shall be given emphasis in all three
(3) program components.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), in consultation
with the Department of National Defense (DND), Philippine Association
of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), Coordinating Council of
Private Educational Associations of the Philippines (COCOPEA) and
other concerned government agencies, may design and implement
such other program components as may be necessary in consonance
with the provisions of this Act.”

SECTION 2. Section 5 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Section 5. Coverage ~ (Students, male and female] MALE
STUDENTS of any baccalaureate degree course or at least two (2)-
year technical vocational courses in public and private educational
institutions shall be required to complete THE ROTC COMPONENT,
WHILE FEMALE STUDENTS SHALL BE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE
one (1) of the NSTP components, as requisite for graduation.”

SECTION 3. Section 7 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Section 7. NSTP Offering in Higher and Technical Vocational
Educational Institutions. — All higher and technical vocational institutions,
public and private, must offer THE ROTC AND at least one of the OTHER
TWO program components [: Provided, That State universities and
cclleges shall offer the ROTC component and at least one other
component as provided herein: Provided, further, That private higher and
technical-vocational education institutions may also offer the ROTC if they
have at least three hundred and fifty (250) cadet students).

In offering the NSTP whether during the semestral or summer
periods, clustering of affected students from different educational
institutions may be done, taking into account logistics, branch of
service and geographical considerations. Schools that do not meet the
required number of students to maintain the [optional] ROTC and any
of the NSTP components shall allow their students to cross-enroll to
other schools irrespective of whether or not the NSTP components in
said schools are being administered by the same of another branch of


service in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), CHED and
TESDA to which schools are identified.”

SECTION 4. Section 10 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Section 10. Management of the NSTP Component. - The school
authorities shall exercise academic and administrative supervision over the
design, formulation, adoption and implementation of the different NSTP.
components in their respective schools. IN THE CASE OF ROTC, THE
SCHOOL AUTHORITIES AND THE DND SHALL EXERCISE JOINT
SUPERVISION OVER ITS IMPLEMENTATION, SUBJECT TO THE
POLICIES, REGULATIONS AND PROGRAMS OF THE DND ON THE
MILITARY COMPONENT OF THE TRAINING. THE DND SHALL
FORMULATE AND ADMINISTER THE TRAINING MODULES FOR THE
ROTC: Provided, That in case a CHED- or TESDA-accredited non-
government organization (NGO) has been contracted to formulate and
administer a training module for any of the NSTP components, such
academic and administrative supervision shall be exercised jointly with that
accredited NGO: Provided, further, That such training module shall be
accredited by the CHED and TESDA.

The CHED and TESDA regional offices shall oversee and monitor
the implementation of the NSTP under their jurisdiction to determine if the
trainings are being conducted in consonance with the objectives of this Act.
Periodic reports shall be submitted to the CHED, TESDA and DND in this
regard.”

SECTION 5. Section 13 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Section 13. Transitory Provisions. - [Students who have yet to
complete the Basic ROTC, except those falling under Section 14 of this
Act,] MALE STUDENTS WHO ARE ALREADY ENROLLED IN A
PROGRAM COMPONENT OTHER THAN ROTC may either continue
in the program component they are currently enrolled or shift to (any of
the other program components of their choice] THE ROTC BASIC
COURSE: Provided, That in case [he] THEY shift{s] to [another] THE
ROTC program component, the [Basic ROTC] OTHER PROGRAM
COMPONENT courses [he has] THEY HAVE completed shall be
counted for the purpose of completing the NSTP requirement:
Provided, further, That once [he has] THEY HAVE shifted to [another]
THE ROTC program component, [he] THEY shall complete the NSTP
in that component.”


SECTION 6. Section 14 of the same Act is hereby repealed.

SECTION 7. All laws, decrees, executive orders, agreements, rules and
regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed of modified accordingly.

SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in
the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,