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THE NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM
The National Service Training Program was also known as “An Act Establishing the National Service
Training Program (NSTP) for Tertiary Level Students, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 7077 and Presidential Decree
no. 1706, and for other Purposes” or Republic Act No. 9163. It was signed into law in January 23, 2002 amidst the various
calls of dissenting sectors for its abolition or reform.
It invoked the constitutional provision regarding the “duty of the state to serve and protect its
citizens,” specifically Article II (Declaration of Principles and State Policies), Section 2, which states 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 fulfillment thereof, all citizens may be required under conditions provided by law, to render personal military
or civil service” (italics supplied). This is the same principle that created and sustained the Reserve Officers
Training Corps.
The primary objective of the NSTP law is to promote the role of the youth in nation-building. As such,
it aims to encourage the youth to become civic and/or military leaders and volunteers whom could be called upon by the nation
in cases their services are needed.
Compared with the ROTC which specializes in military training, and the E-ROTC which granted three options
for students yet was limited in implementation, the NSTP law ensured that the three components – Civic Welfare Service,
Literacy Training Service, and Reserve Officers Training Corps – will be given the same and equal implementation in
educational institutions. Moreover, it defined the different components, the duration of the training, coverage, etc.
The Three NSTP Components
The National Service Training Program is composed of three different components.
The Civic Welfare Training Service is geared towards activities that have social impact through activities
that could contribute to “health, education, environment, entrepreneurship, safety, recreation and morals of the citizenry”[1],
thus the CWTS component of the NSTP stressed the importance of youth involvement in broad programs or activities that will
benefit the people. While the CWTS focused on programs to enhance the living conditions of the people, the Literacy
Training Service has a more limited yet equally useful objective that is to “train students to become teachers of literacy
and numeracy skills to school children, out of school youth, and other segments of society in need of their service”[2].
LTS thus specializes in the education of the people, strengthening the education sector to empower the people through education.
Meanwhile, Reserve Officers Training Corps, while deemed equally important by the NSTP law (it maintained
its existence and nature mentioned in RA 7077 having the primary objective to prepare the youth in national defense, became
merely a component of the program.
To compare the Old ROTC to the NSTP, here is the ROTC organizational structure:
Fig 4. NSTP organizational chart under the CHED, TESDA and the DND
The NSTP required male and female students to undergo the program they have chosen for two (2) semesters
or one (1) academic year in contrast with the ROTC which required males to take military training for four (4) semesters or
two (2) academic years. Students taking NSTP will get three (3) units from taking the program; equivalent of 1.5 units
every semester. Thus, in contrast to the mandatory – yet free – ROTC, students will now have to pay for their
NSTP. This included the former cadets of the ROTC who enjoyed the free reservist program. Also, the law states that
private learning institutions could offer one of the three options but required state colleges and universities to maintain
their ROTC units together with an alternative unit from the two other options. The law also limited the existence of
the ROTC in private and vocational institutions requiring it to have 350 cadets for it to be called a unit, otherwise –
and considering other factors such as insufficient cadet number, lack of logistics to support ROTC program of instruction
(POI), etc. – cross-enrolling the students to other schools for their NSTP is an option.
The goal of the law and of the program is to harness the strength and capacity of the youth to contribute
to nation-building, thus the National Service Reserve Force was created to enlist CWTS and LTS graduates which is also equivalent
to the Citizen Armed Force of the ROTC. In the event that the state will need people for its civic and literacy activities,
it will merely utilize the personnel of the reserve force, the student volunteers the NSTP-CWTS and the NSTP-LTS has produced.
As with the need of the Armed Forces for additional force for its defense campaigns, it can easily use its body of reservists
in the Reserve Command.
THE NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM IN UP MANILA
UP Manila 2002
The National Service Training Program was implemented in UP Manila during the second semester of AY 2002-2003.
According to Dr. Danilo Magtanong (2005), NSTP Coordinator, CWTS was initially under the College of Nursing and LTS was handled
by the Office of the Pahinungod (later, Office of the Pahinungod and Continuing Education, or OPCE). This was the system
used by the E-ROTC at the advent of the NSTP. Since the university was not prepared to implement the program, and considering
the limited time the law required for the implementation of NSTP, the University used the same program.
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) was the core of the NSTP during that time, with Professor Esmeralda
Perez as the first NSTP coordinator and the college as the implementing arm of the NSTP. By implementing arm, it means
that the college supervised the enlistment of an estimated 800 freshmen to the different components of the NSTP then.[5] The
NSTP coordinators during that time, however, were disorganized in the sense that the colleges were “clueless”
as to how to implement the program. In addition, the ROTC which, was a “separate program for decades” [6]was
included in the NSTP, thus there was disarray in the enlistment of cadets to the different components. The organization
of the NSTP implementation in 2002, as provided by Perez (2005) looks like this:
Fig.3 ROTC organizational structure (source: Manaligod, 2002)
In this setting, it was said that the school administrations’ primary task is to supervise the enrollment
of cadets, collect fees, and to provide the training area.[3] The role of the schools as such in the ROTC organizational
structure was challenged by the educators.[4] Thus the role of the school was expanded in the NSTP from being supporter
of the program to primary actor in the formulation and implementation of the program as mentioned in RA 9163 and as shown
in the NSTP organizational structure below. The law was said to empower the learning institutions in having the prerogative
in formulating their NSTP curricula, except the Reserve Officers Training Corps component. The Commission on Higher
Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Department of National Defense (DND)
shall coordinate with non-government organizations, the academe and the student organizations in formulating guidelines in
the implementation of the program. Thus, in this setting, schools shall report to the three agencies (DND, CHED, and
TESDA) regarding their NSTP.
NSTP Organizational Structure
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With the clamor for the development of the ROTC program, the Republic Act 9163 was signed into law in January
23, 2002 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This law was put into effect in the School Year of 2002-2003 among the colleges
and universities. In UP Manila, this program was implemented according to the orientation of the colleges and departments.
Thus, NSTP was delegated into the academic units, utilizing the faculty of the University to teach NSTP students into each
department's focus for national service.
The National Service Training Program seeks to enhance civic consciousness without compromising national
security needs of the country. One might think that NSTP is just a further expansion of Expanded ROTC (E-ROTC) program
implemented (which had a similar-sounding Civil Welfare Service Unit, or CWS; and Law Enforcement Service, or LES). The NSTP,
however, is a completely different kind of program.
This article is a shortened version of a formal study conducted by a political science student of the same
school on the effectiveness of the program and the efficiency of the execution in the University setting.
Faura Articles:
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Fig.5 Organization of the NSTP coordinators with the administration (Source: Perez, 2005)
In this setting, the NSTP coordinator links up the other coordinators or handlers of the NSTP of the different
colleges. The colleges will facilitate the enrollment of cadets/students to the central NSTP then, with the coordinator
merely overlooking enlistment. The NSTP office also supposedly sends the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) a list
of their students to be incorporated to the National Reserve Force.
THE (D)EVOLUTION OF NSTP
Faced with numerous problems in the initial implementation of the NSTP – from budget to student congestion
in the programs – UP Manila opted for NSTP devolution. This was the initiative of the Office of the Vice-Chancellor
for Academic Affairs (OVCAA) and was patterned after the UP Diliman NSTP devolution. In adopting the UP Diliman example
of NSTP devolution, the administration considered two factors: administrative support and feedback of students.[7]
The administration and the colleges welcomed the devolution because the colleges would be able to pattern
their NSTP according to the courses that they are offering, thus giving their students insights on the nature of the course
they are taking; there is a “nurturing” factor by the colleges to their potential graduates. Given these
rationales, the NSTP started operating in devolution at the second semester 2003-2004[8].
The organization of the devolved NSTP is not totally different from its organization in 2002. As described
by Magtanong (2005) in an interview, the NSTP at present looks like this:
Fig. 6 NSTP organization in UP Manila during the 2002 NSTP implementation (source: Magtanong, 2005)
In this setting, the unit coordinators from the different departments are “under their respective
deans.” If there are activities in the different units, the dean should note their activities and the NSTP head coordinator’s
office should be informed regarding their activities. The Coordinator can only note on the plans or make comments but
cannot make decisions outright without consulting the OVCAA. The Coordinator then is merely a channel of the NSTP to
the OVCAA. [9]
Moreover, there is no existing Memorandum of Agreement of the University with other schools, thus students
cannot possibly take their NSTP in other schools.[10]
THE ROTC IN THE UP MANILA NSTP
Given the organizational setting mentioned above, one would be compelled to ask where the ROTC is in this
setting. Is not the ROTC also a component of the NSTP? Why is the ROTC seemingly not included?
The Reserve Officer Training Corps had a centralized implementation under the UP Manila Department of Military
Science and Tactics in 2002. Under the guidance of its commandant, then First Lieutenant Rodil Curiba, the ROTC was
able to enlist 60 cadets, most of them from the College of Arts and Sciences for the Military Science 1 (MS 1). [11]
During the second semester of 2002, however, the administrative confusion with the implementation conflicted
with the DMST’s plans, thus the DMST was not able to offer Military Science 2 to its cadets until the second semester
of AY 2003-2004. The cadets who wanted to have their ROTC in UP Manila in 2003 cross-registered to UP Diliman and finished
there their MS 1. Moreover, the cadets who failed to take their MS-2 during the second semester of AY 2002-2003 were
only able to take their MS 2 during the second semester of AY 2003-2004. [12]
At present, ROTC is being offered in UP Manila. However, the cadets will have to cross register to
UP Diliman to be able to take their ROTC component; as such, the training days of UP Manila cadets will be in UP Diliman.
However, in spite of this scenario, cadets still enlist in the ROTC in UPM CAS. Most of the cadets are women [13]and
cadets from UPM CAS are from the BS Biology course.
The UP Manila ROTC maybe said as a dying unit[14]. The unit has no commandant since 2004 when
it was made officially under the UP Diliman ROTC. Moreover, aside from the lack of interest on the part of some students
to the ROTC brought about by the negative impression of the program, there is said to be also a tough competition between
the ROTC and the two other components. While the CWTS and the LTS were tailored to cater to an already established number
of students taking a particular course, the ROTC which retained its military nature, terms of enlistment and implementation,
remained to be centralized vis-à-vis a devolved CWTS and LTS.
Magtanong (2005) in an interview mentioned that the reason why UP Manila ROTC cadets have to cross-enroll
to UP Dilliman is that UP Manila cannot possibly support the ROTC program due to low turnout of enrollment. While the
law provides that state colleges and universities should ensure that they will still have the ROTC in the NSTP, UP Manila
stressed that being a part of the University of the Philippines, which is a system, it is not violating any provision of the
law.[15] Thus, ROTC cadets who enrolled in UP Manila will undergo training in UP Diliman. ROTC cadets are presently
directly under the UP Diliman Department of Military Science and Tactics, their training is under the UP Diliman ROTC program.
The cross-registration of cadets is handled by the UP Diliman Office of the University Registrar (UPD-OUR) and UP Manila Office
of the University Registrar (UPM-OUR). [16]
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