Module in Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)

Lesson 1: The NSTP Law

Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Discuss the legal bases of National Service Training Program;
2. Identify and explain vital provision of the NSTP Implementing Rules and
Regulations;
3. Differentiate the scope of the three components of National Service Training
Program; and
4. Appreciate the importance of the National Service Training Program

INTRODUCTION
Have you ever experienced working in a community? How did you feel about it? Do you
know that students like you are now required to actively participate in community service through
R.A. No. 9163 or simply the NSTP Law?

The succeeding details of this lesson are answers to some of the queries in your mind. For
more enlightenment, other related features and components of the program are thus presented.

ABSTRACTION
Republic Act No. 9163 establishes the National Service Training Program or NSTP (for
tertiary level students) amending for the purpose as stated on the Republic Act No. 7077 and PD
No. 1706.

The National Service Training Program (NSTP) is defined under Republic Act No. 9163,
section 3, as a program aimed at enhancing civic consciousness and defense preparedness in the
youth by developing the ethics of service and patriotism while undergoing training in any of its
three program components.

Since NSTP requires training, civic consciousness can be enhanced by doing community
immersion which in an integral part of Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS) and Literacy
Training Service (LTS) while defense preparedness is enhanced through the Reserved Officer
Training Corps (ROTC).

Distinctive Features of CWTS, LTS, and ROTC

CWTS and LTS deal with civic enhancement while ROTC focuses on defense of military
preparedness. To understand further, section 3 of Republic Act No. 9163, the program
components of NSTP are defined as:

CWTS | 1
 Module in Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)

1. Reserve Officer Training Corps refers to the program component institutionalized under
Section 38 and 39 of Republic Act No. 7077, designed to provide military training to
tertiary level students in order to motivate, train, organize, and mobilize them for national
defense preparedness;
2. Literacy Training Service is the program component designed to train students to teach
literacy and numeracy skills to school children, out of school youth, and other segments of
the society in need of their services; and
3. Civic Welfare Training Service pertains to the program component or activities
contributory to the general welfare and the betterment of life for the members of the
community of the enhancement of its facilities, especially those devoted to improving
health, education, environment, entrepreneurship, safety, recreation, and moral of the
citizenry and other social welfare services.

These three components differ in specialization. ROTC focuses on the military science
training wherein students are trained in preparation of war, while CWTS and LTS deal with civic
enhancement through community immersion programs. The difference between LTS and CWTS
lies on the program implementation. Literacy Training Service is designed to train the future
teachers of the nation for eradicating illiteracy of children and out of school youths while Civic
Welfare Training Service is designed to promote general welfare to the community. It is a
program that enhances the way of living of every person in the community.

There are other relevant questions that may arise in the implementation of the program,
as follows:

Is every first year student covered by the NSTP Law?

Every first year student effective School Year 2002-2003, male or female, enrolled in any
baccalaureate degree and in at least two years Technical-Vocational or associate course is
required to complete at least one of the three components of the NSTP as a graduation
requirement and as stipulated in Republic Act No. 9163, Rule 3, section 4a.

What if a student is a second degree taker? A graduate of associate course before SY 2003-
2004? Or, a transfetee who took the NSTP from other university?

Based on Republic Act No. 9163, Rule 3, section 4a1, 4a2 and 4a3, students who finished or
graduated before School Year 2003 and 2004 are exempted to take the NSTP. Also, exempted
are those students who completed any of the three components but considered freshmen to the
course where they transferred of shifted; foreign students; and students of Philippine Merchant
Marine Academy, Philippine National Police Academy, and Philippine Military Academy in view of
the special character of these institution.

CWTS | 2
 Module in Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)

What is the time duration of the NSTP Program?

Rule 6, section 6a and 6b of Republic Act No. 9163 clarified the course duration of NSTP
wherein every student shall take the NSTP for an academic period of two semesters which
consist of 3 units per semester with a minimum of 54 hours and a maximum of 90 training hours
per semester. It can also be undertaken for one summer program in lieu of the two semesters if
the institution allows it.

Do students need to pay NSTP Fee?

This question is best answered by referring to Rule 4, section 9 of the NSTP law which
states that:

“No fees shall be collected for any of the NSTP components

except basic tuition, which should not be more than fifty (50%)
percent of the charges of the school per academic unit”.

Even though it is stipulated in the NSTP law that only basic tuition is allowed to be
collected, there are some universities that require minimal fee for uniform with consent from the
concerned authorities. The reason for this is for identification and safety of the students, since
most of the NSTP Programs are done outside the university.

What will the students receive after completing NSTP Program?

Every student will be given a certificate of completion with corresponding serial number
issued by CHED, TESDA, and DND as reflected in Rule 6, section 12 of Republic Act No. 9163. All
graduates of the CWTS and LTS components of the NSTP shall belong to the National Service
Reserve Corps (NSRC) and could be tapped by the state for literacy and civic welfare activities
especially in times of calamities, while those graduates of ROTC shall form part of the Citizen
Armed Forces pursuant to Republic Act No. 7077 as stipulated in Rule 5, sections 11a and 11c of
the NSTP Law.

APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT

Essay. Explain the differences among the three components on the NSTP. (10 points)

___________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

CWTS | 3
Module in Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)

CWTS | 4
 Module in Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)

Lesson 1: The NSTP Law

Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Relate one’s self to others to discover purposes, abilities and limitations;
2. Discuss the importance of self-awareness in relating with others; and
3. Explain the link between self-awareness and values education.

INTRODUCTION
Self is an aspect of human being that reflects the individual’s emotional, psychological,
spiritual and total personality. Self-awareness, on the other hand, means to accept one’s self,
one’s strengths and weakness to the extent that one develops a clear picture of personhood; to
reveal oneself to others by investing or taking risks towards growth; and to express one’s
feelings, consonant and dissonant in a loving concern.

Self-acceptance is to let the individual understand and accept himself before others. In so
doing, it helps in building up confidence and risk-taking interpersonal relationship. The process of
acceptance includes identifying specifically what you, as a human being, don’t accept about
yourself; knowing that you are doing the best you can; taking a good hard look at your honesty
level.

In relation, you experience self-disclosure when you reveal yourself to others and
encourage others to show interest and concern in you. However, the moment you share burden and
responsibilities with others and you become sensitive to each other’s need you manifest self-
expression.

ABSTRACTION
The Self-Management Sequence

The “self-management” sequence – THE FIVE STEPS that control your success or failure.

1. BEHAVIOR – The self that most directly controls your success or failure is your behavior
(“actions”) – what you do or do not do!

The right series of the right actions will always end up making things work better
than the wrong series of the wrong actions. In most cases, if you do the right thingt=, you
will achieve the right results!

CWTS | 5
 Module in Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)

How you manage yourself, what you do, how you act, each and every moment, every
word you speak, motion you make and action you take or do not take, will determine how
well everything in your life works for you!

2. FEELINGS – how you “feel” about something always affects what you do and how well you
do it.
3. ATTITUDES – Your “attitudes” are the perspectives from which you view life.
4. BELIEFS – What you “believe” about anything WILL determine your attitudes about it,
create your feelings, direct your actions, and in each instance, help YOU do well or poorly,
succeed or fail. The belief that you have about anything is so powerful that it can even
make something appear to something “different” that what it really is.
Belief does not require that something be the way you perceive (“see”) it is. It only
requires that you believe that it is. In other words, belief does not require something to
be true. It only requires you to “believe that it is true”
That means most of what “reality” is – to you is based on what you have come to
believe – whether it is true or not.
5. PROGRAMMING – Your beliefs are created and directed entirely by your “programming”.
In other words, you believe what you are programmed to believe.

Your programming (“conditioning”) from the day you were born, has created
reinforced, and nearly permanently cemented most of what you believe about yourself and
what you believe about most of what goes on around you. Whether the programming was
right or wrong, true or false. The result of programming is what you believe. It all starts
with your programming.

It is your programming that sets up your beliefs, and the “chain reaction” begins. In
logical progression, what you believe determines your attitudes, affects your feelings,
directs your behaviour, and determines your success or failure.

a. Programming creates beliefs

b. Beliefs create attitudes
c. Attitudes create feelings
d. Feelings determine actions
e. Actions create results

Levels of Self-Talk

1. NEGATIVE ACCEPTANCE

These are items you tell yourself that are negative reinforcements or negative
beliefs about yourself. These are the “I can’t…” or “If only….” Or “I wish I could…,
but…” These are those things you should avoid at all costs.

CWTS | 6
 Module in Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)

2. RECOGNITION AND NEED TO CHANGE

These are the “I need to…” or “I ought to…” or “I should…” These statements
always end up with the subconscious “but I’m not going to do anything about it.”

3. DECISION TO CHANGE
Here you recognize the need to changes and begin to do something about it. These
statements go like this; “I never…” or “I no longer…” Here you rephrase the old phrases
“can’t with a positive.
4. THE BETTER YOU
These are the “I am…” phrases that facilitates change. Really the way you want to
be. Here you say “I have a…” “I will…” “I do…”
5. UNIVERSAL AFFIRMATION
This level is considered “oneness” with God. Like a Buddhists monk.

Self-Assessment

In social psychology, self-assessment is the process of looking at oneself in order to

assess aspects that are important to one’s identity. It is one of the motives that drive self-
evaluation, along with self-verification and self-enhancement. Sedikides (1993) suggests that the
self-assessment motive will prompt people to seek information to confirm their uncertain self-
concept rather that their certain self-concept and at the same time people use self-assessment
to enhance their certainty of their own self-knowledge. However, the self-assessment motive
could be seen as quite different from the other two self-evaluation motives. Unlike the other two
motives through self-assessment people are interested in the accuracy of their current self-view,
rather than improving their self-view. This makes self-assessment the only self-evaluative motive
that may cause a person’s self-esteem to be damaged.

Though self-assessment is one of the self-evaluation motives, it could be suggested that it

may not be the most popular one. Self-enhancement was displayed in each of the experiments
conducted by Sedikides and self-assessment, and even self-verification to an extent was only
displayed when it was teased out. This is not to say that self-assessment is not self-evaluation
motive, however, most of the experiments conducted by Sedikides ended up with the participants
reflecting on central traits rather than peripheral traits. This is unsurprising as they are the
most important traits to a person’s self-concept, however it is not therefore surprising that
these are the traits that are enhanced rather than assessed as if someone assessed their central
traits and found fault it would be more of an issue than finding a fault with peripheral trait. The
fifth experiment carried out by Sedikides shows that self-assessment does exist and is one of
the self-evaluation motives; if people didn’t self-assess then even in this experiment there would
have no difference between reflections of those asked to be objective and those who were not.
Self-assessment is a difficult motive to assess, as discovered by Sedikides but it is important to
self-evaluation as it means that people are able to realize ways in which to improve themselves.
CWTS | 7
 Module in Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)

APPLICATION AND ASSESSMENT

Direction: Answer the following questions. Write your answer on the space provided. (10 points
each)

1. What is the importance of knowing yourself? Relate it to community building.]

2. In your own experience, how do you assess yourself?

CWTS | 8