Lecture Notes on NSTP

Module 1
Introduction to NSTP

The maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life, liberty, and property and the
promotion of the general welfare are essential for the enjoyment of the blessings of democracy.

Article II, Section 5

The Philippine Constitution

 the Philippine Constitution provides that the enjoyment of the blessings of democracy
necessitates the maintenance of peace and order, protection of life, liberty and property and
the promotion of general welfare
 however, a lot of Filipinos are still living in fear for their lives (people experience poverty
despite the rich natural resources that the country possess)
 the citizens share with the responsibility of the government to “serve and protect the people
(Art. II, Sec. 4)
 the Philippine Constitution stipulates that the government “may call upon people… to render
personal military and civil service” (Art. II, Sec. 4)
 Art II, Sec. 4 as the basis in formulating RA 9163 or the National Training Service Program
(NSTP) Law

Threats to Security and the Relevance of Military Training

 “military as an indispensable social institution”
 threats to security can either be internal of external
 the United Nations guarantees the right of every country to protect its people from internal
and external threats
 protecting the country is not the sole responsibility of the Armed Forces of the Philippines

From ROTC to NSTP

Beginnings of Military Training

o military education in the Philippines started during the Spanish colonial years
o Commonwealth Act No. 1/National Defense Act (1935): “designed the Philippine
Army as a citizen army”; Filipinos, at the age of 18, were supposed to be subject to
military training; military training as a requisite for graduation – ROTC course in the
universities and colleges and CATs at the secondary level
o Executive Order No. 59: ROTC as a requirement for graduation in college

Constitutional Provisions
o Art II, Sec. 4 states that “the primary duty of the government is to serve and protect
the people.” In achieving this, the Constitution provides that “the government may call
upon the people to defend the State…all citizens may be required…to render
personal or civil service.”
o ROTC as a venue or means to prepare the people for the defense of the State
o Art II, Sec. 4 upheld the validity of Commonwealth Act No. 1; no citizen refuse the
rendering of military service even on the grounds of religious beliefs
 Presidential Decree No. 1706/National Service Law
o Provided for compulsory national service for Filipino citizen; amended certain
provisions on Commonwealth Act No. 1
o States that “national service shall be obligatory for all citizens of the
Philippines…’national service’ shall be consisted of three programs namely: civil
welfare service, law enforcement and military service
o All citizens are required render national service in any of the three programs or a
combination of such
o Military service was made optional in this law but the law was not implemented fully
thus ROTC remained as a major requirement for males to graduate in college

Republic Act 7077/Citizen Armed Forces Reservist Act (1991)

o Graduates of basic and advanced courses of ROTC were considered “reservists” or
citizen soldiers
o Sec 38 requires students in colleges, universities and similar institutions of learning to
enroll in ROTC program
o Two years mandatory basic ROTC training and two-year advance training as
voluntary (Sec. 39)

The NSTP Law

o Enacted on January 23, 2003
o Death of Sgt. Major Mark Welson Chua of the University of Santo Tomas in 2001
allegedly by the ROTC training staff for squealing corruption resulted in protests for
the abolition of ROTC
o Sen. Renato Cayetano: “ROTC is no longer responsive to the needs of the present
times and it only encourages and breeds graft and corruption”
o The abolition of the ROTC met stern opposition
o House Bill No. 3593 and Senate Bill No. 1824 was passed as RA 9163

The NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM

 NSTP as part of curricula of all baccalaureate degree courses and of at least two-year
technical-vocational courses
 NSTP is 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 components

COMPONENTS OF THE NSTP

 ROTC: Reserve Officer’s Training Corps
o Institutionalized under Sec. 38 and 39 of RA 7077
o “designed to provide military training to tertiary level students in order to motivate,
train, organize and mobilize them for national defense”
o topics included are military indoctrination, training of individual soldiers, individual
protective measures (hygiene and sanitation, basic life support, basic self-defense),
basic weapons training and marksmanship, and drills and ceremonies
 LTS: Literacy Training Service
o “designed to train students to teach literacy and numeracy skills to school children,
out-of-school youths and other segments of the society in need of the service”
o possible components also include adult education and community development
 CWTS: Civic Welfare Training Service
o “aims to promote the general welfare and the betterment of life for the members of
the community or the enhancement of its facilities, especially those devoted to
improving health, education, ecology and environment, entrepreneurship, safety,
recreation and morals of the citizenry”
o two major components: defense preparedness and civic consciousness

2
Reference:
Caday, Simon et. al. 2005. Civil Welfare Training Service: Modular Approach. Manila: Redman Printing.
Module 2
Self-Awareness

RECAP of Module 1

1. CWTS prepares one to become an effective and efficient participant in civic welfare
works
2. the government may call upon the people to render personal military and civic welfare to
defend the State (Art II, Sec 4)

What will we discover in Module 2?

 our potentials as a person and as a participant in civic welfare activities in our
communities

Knowing one’s self – helps us better understand our relationship with others as we perform our
expected roles; we must be aware of ourselves in order to successfully develop our
strengths, talents, capabilities and potentials and to utilize these to facilitate role
performance

FOCUS of Module 2:

1) the concept of person-in-environment

2) the components of the “being of a person”
3) that standardized roles prevail in the environment where the person lives
4) that a person has complex needs
5) that a person must have self-awareness, self-concept and self-esteem

TWO BIG QUESTIONS

1. How can we become effective members of the National Reserve Corps who will
render community service?
2. What can we do to effectively participate in the task of nation building?

COMPONENTS of a PERSON

Person
- a product of inherited and constitutional make-up in a continuous transaction with
potent persons in life
- a product of the past (but must not be viewed as a finished product)
- a product in the process of becoming

4 COMPONENTS

1. physical/biological
 “pertains to the individual’s state of health and nutrition, genetics, and natural
physical endowments at birth, normal biological growth and development as well as
any deviation from normal functioning including physical illnesses and physical
disabilities”
 the state of the corporeal body of a person affects the behavior of the individual

2. psychological
 the way a person feels about himself of herself is referred to as the “inner state”
 “includes the private world...the person’s fears, insecurities, ambitions and dreams,
the strengths, the weaknesses that are not immediately revealed”

3
 2 ASPECTS
 Cognitive
 deals with the intellectual and perceptual functioning
 intellectual functioning – mental processes happening inside our
minds
 a person is expected to be a critical thinker
 sequential questions leading to critical thinking (Prof. Tayag, UP):
1) what? – definition of the problem/situation
2) how? – knowing how the problem/situation occurred
3) why? – identification of the reasons why the problem/situation
occurred
4) so what? – identification of the pros and cons and the effects
of the problems/situation to the individual; in-depth
assessment of the situation
5) what now? – planning of the appropriate solutions to solve the
problem/situation
 perception – the way we view things and how precise we understand
the things around us; the interpretation or the giving of meaning to a
thing
 Emotional
 the feelings of a person
 important to have a good relationship with other members of the
society (no empathy, no collective action through helping)

3. social
 the environment of the person of whom he or she is a part of

5 ASPECTS
 the emergent issues of the society affect the well-being of the individual or
person
 the institutions in the society – family, government, education, church, mass
media
 the status or characteristics of the persons and their positions in the society
as seen in the way the persons are described
 the norms of the society (norms are standards in a society)
 the type of interaction and the perception of interactions made of self and
others which are bases of behavior

4. spiritual
 the relationship of a person to his or her god
 provides answers to the questions “who am I?” and “what is the purpose of my
existence?”
 comprised of our philosophy in life and the expression of one’s spirituality
 expressed in terms of religion
 “the best way to understand a people is to know their belief system, their cultural
belief dispositions, their social relations and codes of behavior” (Jocano, 2001)

DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY

Personality
- the organized system of personal thoughts, feelings and behavior
- includes how we think about the world and about ourselves, how we respond emotionally
to various situations and to other people and how we act within our daily lives

4
 - typical pattern of attitudes, needs, characteristics and behavior

2 FACTORS THAT DETERMINE PERSONALITY

1. Heredity
 a person’s behavior is influenced the characteristics he or she inherited from
his or her parents
 some traits are transferred from parents to offspring through genes

2. Environment
 plays a significant role in the development of the physical and psychological
components of the person
 a person needs a human environment in order to become a truly human
person displaying human behavior

Interaction between heredity and environment

 the extent of the influence of each determinant is affected by the other factor
 any environmental factor will exert a different influence depending upon the
specific hereditary material upon which it operates
 similarly, any hereditary factor will operate differently upon specific
environmental conditions

SOCIAL FUNCTIONING
- the sum total of person’s activities and roles as he interact with other persons in his
daily life
- the performance of one’s various roles in the society
- includes the addressing of common human needs that must be adequately met to
enable individuals to achieve a reasonable degree of fulfillment and to function as
productive and contributing member of the society
- there must be a balance between the relationship of the person and his environment
- the person’s coping abilities must match the environmental opportunities and demands
and the environment must be supportive to the person in developing his talents,
capabilities, potentials and strengths so the person would feel his worth and will be able
to function socially

Difficulties in Performing Social Functions

Social dysfunction – failure to perform or achieve social functioning

2 REASONS
1. Personal inadequacies – due to physiological factors such as poor health, wrong
attitudes and values, poor or unrealistic perception of reality, ignorance and lack of skill
2. Situational inadequacies – conditions beyond the person’s coping capacities; refers to
lack of resources and opportunities in the society, or the existence of resources or
opportunities beyond the reach of the people and the existence of unjust or exploitative
situation in the workplace or in communities
3. Both personal and situational inadequacies

Reference:
Caday, Simon et. al. 2005. Civil Welfare Training Service: Modular Approach. Manila: Redman Printing.