LEGAL BASES

Section 4, Article II of the Constitution provides that the prime duty

of the Government is to serve and protect the people. The Government
may call upon the people to defend the State and in the fulfillment
thereof, all citizens may be required, under conditions provided by law,
to render personal military or civil service.

Section 38, Article VII, Republic Act 7077 – states that, “Military
training for students enrolled in colleges, universities and similar
institutions of learning is mandatory pursuant to the provisions of the
National Defense Act of 1935 and the 1987 Constitution.”

Commonwealth Act Number 1, otherwise known as the National

Defense Act, was the very first statutory enactment by the
Commonwealth government on December 23, 1935. Commonwealth Act
Number 1 required the compulsory military training of all college
students. Executive Order Nr 207 was later issued by President Manuel
L Quezon requiring all college students to undergo military instructions
pursuant to Commonwealth Act Nr 1. The very rationale of military
training is the defense of the state, whether actual or in preparation to
make it more effective in case of need.
The National Defense Act was amended in 1980 by Presidential
Decree 1706 (The National Service Law) which directs that military
service will no longer be compulsory, but leaving the national service or
training to be in effect. Military Training Service (MTS), Civic Welfare
Service (CWS), Law Enforcement Service (LES) make up the National
Service Program. But the CWS and LES component were suspended,
leaving only the MTS program, which is the present ROTC program. In
SY 1993-1994 DND, CHED and DILG formed a tripartite committee, the
Basic ROTC Program was expanded upholding three (3) programs of
the National Service Law (MTS, LES and CWS). It was implemented in
1996 but failed since only five percent (5%) of the students enrolled in
CWS and LES components while ninety-five percent (95%) took the
MTS (ROTC).

The rising agitation and recent events call for the re-examination
and review of the sixty-year-old law requiring college students to
undergo military training. This resulted to the enactment of Republic Act
Number 9163 which makes ROTC Optional and requires male and
female freshmen students taking baccalaureate degree and at least two
(2) year vocational/technical or associate courses to take the National
Service Training Program (NSTP) with any of the three (3) Program
Components namely: ROTC, Literacy Training Service and Civic Welfare
Training Service.