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History
Commonwealth Act No. 1, also known as the National defense Act, is the original basis of the national
security program of the Republic of the Philippines. The 1987 Constitution mandates civilian control of the
military and establishes the President as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
The President heads the National Security Council, ostensibly the policy-making and advisory body for
matters connected with national defense. Former President Corazon Aquino re-established the council in 1986
through the executive order that provided for a National Security Council director to advise the President on
national security matters and for a National Security Council Secretariat. The Council is composed of the
President; the Vice President ; the AFP Chief of Staff; National Security Council director; the Executive
Secretary; and the Secretaries of Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Interior and Local Government, Justice,
and Labor and Employment. The NSC by the end of 1990 had only convened twice.
The responsibility of the national security was vested in the Department of National Defense.
The principal functions of the department in 1991 were to defend the state against internal and external threats
and, through the Philippine National Police (PNP), to maintain law and order. The Secretary of National
Defense, by law a civilian, was charged with advising the President on defense matters and developing a
defense policy.
In 2002, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has won crucial backing from her cabinet and
the Congress for the deployment of US soldiers in the country as part of the war on terrorism. The President
convened a meeting of the country’s National Security Council during that time, in a bid to pull wavering
officials, including her Vice President into line and smooth over differences in her administration over the issue.
Arroyo insisted her oppositions to marshal support for her stance to back a US-led campaign against terrorism,
to implement not only the unanimous US Security Council resolution calling on UN members to bring the
perpetrators to justice but also the Philippines Strategic Alliance with the United States, and to assist in the
global campaign to end the scourge of terrorism.
The National Security Advisor (NSA) and Director-General serve as chief of staff and adviser on
special concerns of national security to the President. The NSA has a cabinet rank in the government.
The NSC’s function is to advise the President with respect to the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies
Source: 2017-2022 National Security Policy for Change and Well-Being of the Filipino People
From the Preamble, and the Presidents remarks, the Government has identified eight National Security
Interests that amplify its concept of national security --- public safety, law and order, and social justice; socio-
political stability; territorial integrity; economic solidarity; ecological balance; cultural cohesiveness; moral-
spiritual consensus; and international peace and cooperation. These interest serves as the Government’s
strategic focus and shall be accorded appropriate Government’s planning and resources allocations.
2. Socio-political Stability
This is a condition where peace prevails even in diversity and where cooperation and support exists
between the Government and the people under an atmosphere of mutual respect and empathy, bound
by a strong nation of nationhood and sense of duty to respect the rule of law and serve the common
good.
4. Territorial Integrity
This condition ensures that the territory of the country is intact and inviolable, and under the effective
control and jurisdiction of the Government. Within the bounds of pertinent international laws, this
involves the exercise of sovereign rights over land, aerial domain, and maritime territories, within the
Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) continental shelf.
5. Ecological Balance
Rapid economic growth and industrialization are transforming society and improving the lives of many
Filipinos, but it comes at a great cost to the environment. The impact of the global warming and climate
change, blamed largely on harmful patterns of industrial and human practices, could be more severe
for the Philippines --- on of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
Our national security environment is infused with four important dimensions. Internal threats to our national
security make up the first dimension.
1. The main internal threat arises from the Moro Islamic Liberation front (MILF) which, in open rebellion
against the government, has the avowed objective of establishing an independent Islamic state in
Southern Philippines.
2. The Communist Party of the Philippines/ New People’s Amy/National Democratic Front
(CPP/NPA/NDF) continue to pose a serious threat to a national security, although presently weakened
in comparison with their peak strength in the 1985-1987 period.
3. Organized crime is a national security concern. The challenge of illegal drugs has grown into a major
threat to the national community.
4. Gave incidence of poverty is also a serious threat to national security, especially to the extent that it
breeds and abets rebellion, crime, and dissidence. Poverty incidence affects about one-third of Filipino
families nationwide.
5. Economic sabotage undermines the market economy, the financial system, and the nation’s
resources. Under this category are underground activities such as counterfeiting, money
laundering, large-scale smuggling, inter-oceanic poaching, and commercial dumping.
7. Severe calamities cause serious food shortages and abet hoarding and profiteering resulting in hunger,
disease, and deprivation. Over the past ten years, the disaster toll stands at more than 13,000 lives lost
and P179 billion worth of poverty destroyed.
8. Persistent environment degradation poses a long-term security threat. The Attrition of forests and
watersheds, air-land-water pollution, and the diminution of national productivity and well-being.
External Threats
`The growing uncertainties that lie in the regional and global milieu make up the second dimension of our
national security environment, even as threat of external aggression against our country remains in the remote
horizon.
1. The multilateral dispute over the Spratly Islands is a source of intermittent tensions, owing to the
building of structures, believed to be military-oriented, by some claimant countries in the area. This is a
clear encroachment into the Philippine EZZ which is being met through a comprehensive package of
diplomatic measures.
2. The Smuggling of firearms and contraband, illegal migration, and the occasional movement of foreign
terrorists through the porous borders of our southwestern frontier have elicited transnational concern.
Philippine law bilaterally and multilaterally, to check these activities.
3. The Lingering effects of the currency crisis affecting the countries within the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) are a cause of regional anxieties, which tend to aggravate political instabilities
and socio-economic dislocations involving the poorest peoples.
4. The serious economic disparity between rich and poor nations keeps the world in a state of instability
and virtually on the brink of war in many places. Local or regional shortages of fresh water, arable land,
food, fisheries, and energy fuels are already causing tensions.
5. Ethnic, religious, and cultural conflicts pervade many regions and nations, including our own. It is
constantly exacerbated by mass poverty, limited access to resources, denial of human rights, lack of
national integration, and international issues.
8. Natural disasters and environment issues will continue to pervade the global security agenda.
Mankind’s global activities -- particularly population growth, resource consumption, pollution,
urbanization, industrialization, desertification, and deforestation – will increasingly impact climate
and weather patterns, strain fragile ecosystems, and put more pressure on health and social
support systems.
9. Cybernetic crime is a growing global threat, as experienced with computer viruses such as Melissa
and Chernobyl, which have attacked isolated or networked information systems through the
Internet or through software carriers and devices.
The following are the types of security threats that could be minimized by having good citizenship
values and commitment to support and act on issues related to national security and concern.
2. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. It refers only to
those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for an ideological
goal, and deliberately target specific people or disregard the safety of non-combatants civilians.
3. Crime applies to a measurable degree of damage or destruction up to and including a state beyond
use and repair, or it may indicate a state wherein such damage is occurring and continuing.
Something being destroyed is in a “state of destruction” such as self-destructive behaviors, suicide,
and demolition.
4. Murder is defined in most countries as the unlawful killing of another human being with intent
(or malice), and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of homicide.
5. Hijacking/Highway robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force
or threat of force and/o by putting the victim in fear. In common law, robbery is defined as taking
the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means
of force or fear. Robbery differs from simple theft in its use of violence and intimidation.
Participation
Member States to consider ways to increase inclusive representation of youth in decision-making at all
levels in local national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention and
resolution of conflict, including institutions and mechanisms to counter violent extremism; which can be
conducive to terrorism and as appropriate[age to consider establishing integrated mechanisms for
meaningful participation of youth in peace processes and dispute resolution.
Protection
Call upon all parties to armed conflict to comply strictly with the obligations applicable to them
under international law relevant to the protection of civilians, including those who are youth,
including the obligations applicable to them under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the
Additional Protocols thereto of 1977 and call upon parties to armed conflict to take the
necessary measures to protect civilians, including those who are youth, from all forms of
sexual and gender-based violence.
Prevention
Urges Members States to facilitate an inclusive and enabling environment in which youth actors,
including youth from different backgrounds, are recognized and provided with adequate support to
implement violence prevention activities and support social cohesion. And stresses the importance of
creating policies for youth that would positively contribute to peacebuilding efforts, including social and
economic development, supporting projects designed to grow local economies, and provide youth
employment opportunities and vocational training, fostering their education, and promoting youth
entrepreneurship and constructive political engagement
Urges Member States to increase, as appropriate, their political, financial, technical and logistical
support, that take account of the needs and participation of youth in peace efforts, in conflict and post-
conflict situations, including those undertaken by relevant entities, funds and programs, inter alia, the
United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office, United Nations Peacebuilding fund, United Nations
Development Program, United Nations Population Fund, UN-Women, and by the Office of the United
Nations .High Commissioner for Refugees, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and other relevant bodies, and actors at
regional and international levels.
Encourage all involved in the planning for disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration to consider
the needs of youth affected by armed conflict, including, inter alia, such specific aspects as:
National youth employment action plans in partnership with the private sector,
developed in partnership with youth and recognizing the interrelated role of education,
This landmark resolution urges Member States to give youth a greater voice in decision-making at the
local, national, regional, and international levels and to consider setting up mechanisms that would enable
young people to participate meaningfully in peace processes.
The Security Council also requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations to
carry out a study on young people’s positive contribution to peace processes and conflict resolution, and urges
Member States to “increase, as appropriate, their political, financial, technical and logistical support, that take
account of the needs and participation of youth in peace efforts, in conflict and post-conflict situations,
including those undertaken by relevant entities, funds and programs, and other relevant bodies (…) and actors
at regional and international levels”.
Prior to its adoption, Jordan’s permanent representative, said the resolution — considered the first of its
kind on youth, peace and security — followed efforts by the Crown Prince of Jordan, a high-level thematic
debate at the Security Council, and the Global Forum on Youth Peace and Security co-organized by the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, UN and civil society partners, in Amman, in August 2015.
UNSCR 2282 (2016) on the Review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture refers explicitly to
UNSCR 2250, reaffirms “the important role youth can play in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and as a
key aspect of the sustainability, inclusiveness and success of peacekeeping and peacebuilding efforts”, and
calls upon “Member States and relevant United Nations organs and entities to consider ways to increase
meaningful and inclusive participation of youth in peacebuilding efforts.
The Philippines has consistently held the conviction that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow as well
as of today. Young people have the potential to be the greatest resource for sustainable economic growth and
development. Having one of the youngest populations in the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines recognizes the
urgency to leverage the demographic dividend not only for purposes of economic development, but also for
peace and security.
As provided for in our Constitution, the Philippine state recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-
building, and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shall
inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.
Consistent with this mandate, the Philippine Government, through the National Youth Commission, established
and implements the Philippine Youth Development Plan 2017 – 2022. This Plan is anchored on and aligned
with the Sustainable Development Goals. Under the Plan, the youth are guaranteed participation in 9 areas
vital to nation-building: health, education, economic empowerment, social inclusion and equality, governance,
active citizenship, the environment, global mobility, and peace- building and security.
The peacebuilding and security area involves the youth’s active engagement in promoting human
security, including through participation in conflict prevention and management initiatives, in public order and
safety efforts, as well as in safeguarding national integrity and sovereignty. The Government pursues a
strategy of optimizing youth participation in the peace process. It also promotes the pro-social participation of
delinquent youth, youth in conflict with the law and drug-dependent youth in order to foster rehabilitation and
re-integration.
The Philippines fully supports Security Council Resolutions 2250 and 2419 and their aims of actively
engaging young people to participate meaningfully in peace processes and dispute resolution. Young people
have unique skills and perspectives that can inform and benefit peace negotiations. The Philippine
Government’s commitment to include young people in the peace-building process was demonstrated through
the crafting of the National Action Plan for Youth, Peace, and Security, and the establishment of the Youth
Peace Tables. Consultations with the youth, including dialogue opportunities between them and different
actors and stakeholders in the peace process, created space for young people to express the concerns and
issues that are specific to their demographic.
The youth played an important role in the peace negotiations between the Philippine Government and
the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Most of the legal team members of the Government peace panel
were young people who contributed substantially to the preparation of the technical papers used by the
negotiating parties and in the drafting of the Bangsamoro Organic law, the foundational law that creates a truly
autonomous region in Mindanao and the foundation needed to foster stability of the security situation in the
region.
Through the process, three clan wars were solved. A clan peace agreement was signed in a ceremony
witnessed by representatives from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and the Third
Party Monitoring Team.
After the Government reclaimed the City of Marawi from the hands of ISIS elements in 2017, the
National Youth Commission established Youth Hubs in order to assist displaced young people who are
transferring to shelters. The youth were provided with peer-to-peer counselling and opportunities for training in
computer literacy, entrepreneurship, good governance, and livelihood.
Peace negotiations are human resource intensive. From organizing logistics, to coordinating meetings
and preparing documentation, the youth often play critical supportive roles. The same is true for efforts to
address massive health challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Young nurse leaders and advocates are
at the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Young people, including youth volunteers, also play a crucial
role in delivering assistance to communities in quarantine. Their skills in utilizing information technology to
disseminate crucial information to the greater population should be harnessed. Their insights are important in
addressing mental health issues that affect their fellow young people and other demographics.
In closing, the Philippines reiterates its appreciation to the Security Council and the Presidency of the
Dominican Republic for this opportunity to share experiences and good practices in involving young people in
peace-building processes and implementing the Youth Peace and Security agenda at the national level.
ACTIVITY SHEET 1
Name: Score:
3. Explain briefly the seven internal threats that undermine national security.
Activity Sheet 2
Name: Score:
For 10 points each: Comment on the following threats of external aggression against our country.
2. Global and Regional Geopolitical Issues. (United States, China, ASEAN, Japan, other Regional
Players)
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2. Make a summary of the response of Permanent Mission of the Republic of the Philippines
to the United Nations in relations to the role of the youth in security concern.
Books:
Lee, Serhio J., (2013) National Service Training Program (Civic Welfare
Training Service CWTS-1 and Literacy Training Service LTS-1) A source
Book 3rd Edition, C & E Publishing, Inc. 839 EDSA, South Triangle
Quezon City, Philippines
Electronic Sources: