UNIT 6

NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

COURSE OUTCOMES
Manifest the spirit of volunteerism as good servants and model Filipino citi-
zens through awareness of the national security concerns of the Philippines

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, you are expected to illustrate the description of the values
that must be developed and strengthened among students to further the national security and
development.

We are entering a new era of human security where the concept of security will change, and
change dramatically. Security will be interpreted as:
1. security of people, not just of territory;
2. security of individuals, not just of nations; and
3. security through development, not through arms.

Security is a national concern that every Filipino must consider to ensure peaceful existence of the
state. It shall be the State’s primordial concern as well to secure its constituents. It is a condition or state of
being where the Filipino peoples’ values, way of life, institutions, welfare and well-being, sovereignty and
strategic locations are protected and enhanced.

National Security in the Philippines

Commonwealth Act No. 1, also known as the National Defense Act, is the original
policy 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 also heads the National Security
Council, the policy-making and advisory body for matters connected with national defense. The
council itself is composed of the President and at least nine others:

Vice President;
AFP chief of staff;
National Security Council director;
Executive Secretary;
Secretary of Foreign Affairs;

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 Secretary of National Defense;
Secretary of Interior and Local Government;
Secretary of Justice; and
Secretary of Labor and Employment.

Responsibilit y for 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, 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 defense policy.

In 2002, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo 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.

There are seven fundamental elements that lie at the core of, and therefore further
amplify our definition of national security. At the same time, they constitute the most important
challenges we face as a nation and people.

1. Socio-Political Stability - the government and the people must engage in nation-building
under the rule of law, Constitutional democracy and the full respect for human rights.
2. Territorial Integrity - we must ensure the permanent inviolabilit y of our national territory
and its effective control by the Government and the State. This includes the preservation of our
country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and its protection from illegal incursions and
resource exploitation.
3. Economic Solidarity and Strength - we must vigorously pursue a free-market economy
through responsible entrepreneurship based on social conscience, respect for the dignity of labor
and concern for the public interest.
4. Ecological Balance - national survival rests upon the effective conservation of our natural
environment in the face of industrial and agricultural expansion and population growth.
5. Cultural Cohesiveness - our lives as a people must be ruled by a common set of values and
beliefs grounded on high moral and ethical standards, drawn from our heritage and embodying a
Filipino standard, drawn from our heritage and embodying a Filipino identity transcending
religious, ethnic and linguistic differences.
6. Moral-Spiritual Consensus - we must be propelled by a national vision inspired, and
manifested in our words and deeds, by patriotism, national pride and the advancement of
national goals and objectives.
7. External Peace - we must pursue constructive and cordial relations with all nations and
peoples, even as our nation itself must chart an independent course, free from external control,
interference or threat of aggression.

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 Threats to National Security
Many security threats to the Philippines are non-military in nature. Pressing security concerns like
terrorism, poverty, and environmental degradation, needs to be addressed in an informed and intelligent
manner. In its internal aspect, national security relates to the defense of the nation ’s government against
hostile local elements seeking its replacement with their own government. In this sense, national security
refers to the measures aimed at countering domestic or internal challenges to the existing political and
socio-economic order. In its external aspects, national security is concerned with safeguarding the state
against outside or foreign forces, pressures, or influence designed to conquer it or undermine its
sovereignty, or placing under the domination or control of some foreign state or states. In this sense,
national security embraces the defense arrangements directed at insuring the safety of the state against
foreign intervention or domination.

Types of threats
There are six common types of threats that undermine security:

1. Rebellion or Insurrection- a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as

encompassing a range of behaviors from civil disobedience and mass nonviolent resistance, to
violent and organized attempts to destroy an established authority such as the government.
2. Terrorism - the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. Common definitions of
terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated
for an ideological goal, and deliberately target or disregard the safety of noncombatants
(civilians).
3. Murder as defined in most countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent
(or malice afterthought), and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of
homicide.
4. Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention-the taking away or transportation of a person against
the person’s will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal
authority. This may be done for ransom or in furtherance of another crime, or in connection with a
child custody dispute.
5. Hijacking/Highway Robbery - the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by
force or threat of force and or 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.
6. Crimes involving destruction- It may apply either as a measurable degree of damage up to and
including a state beyond use or repair, or it may indicate a state wherein such damage is occurring
and continuing. Ex. self-destructive behaviors, suicide, demolition.

Internal threats and external threats

INTERNAL THREATS

Many security threats to the Philippines are non-military in nature. Pressing security
concerns like terrorism, poverty, and environmental degradation, need to be addressed in an
informed and intelligent manner.

Internal threats. In its internal aspect, national security relates to the defense of the nation ’s
government against hostile local elements seeking its replacement with their own government. In
this sense, national security refers to the measures aimed at countering domestic or internal
challenges to the existing political and socio -economic order.

1. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). 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. Hand-in-hand with this security problem is the threat from the Abu
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 Sayyaf Group (ASG), a small band of highly mobile terrorists with suspected links to
international networks.
2. Communist Party of the Philippines / New People’s Army / National Democratic Front
(CPP / NPA / NDF). These three continue to pose a serious threat to national security,
although presently weakened in comparison with their peak strength in the 1985 -87 period.
During the past two years, there has been an incipient increase of underground activities in
the urban areas and a slight upward trend in isolated terrorist acts in the countryside.
3. Organized Crime. The challenge of illegal drugs, in particular, has grown into a major
threat to the national community. Of the 42,979 barangays nationwide, about 12 per cent are
affected in varying degrees. The anti-drug campaign is a major cornerstone of the
government’s law and order drive, involving the police, the Local Government Units and the
private sector, and focusing on a tripartite strategy of reducing drug supply and demand as
well domestic and international cooperation.
4. Grave Incidence of Poverty. This 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. Consequently, the distribution of wealth has
been skewed in favor of a wealthy minority.
5. Economic Sabotage. Under this category are underground activities such as counterfeiting,
money laundering, large-scale smuggling, inter-oceanic poaching and commercial dumping.
6. Graft and Corruption. It has become another threat to our national security by virtue of the
huge scale by which it saps public resources, undermines the morale of the civil service and
affects the delivery of quality basic services. It has also become a disincentive to investment.
7. Severe Calamities. They cause serious food shortages, abet hoarding and profiteering and
cause 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 property destroyed. The National Disaster
Coordinating Center (NDCC) ensures the focused, coordinated and systematic application of
government and private manpower and resources to the tasks of disaster mitigation, and
community rehabilitation and reconstruction.
8. Persistent Environment Degradation. This poses a long-term security threat. The attrition
of forests and watersheds, air-land water pollution and the proliferation of toxic substances
are a cause of sickness, death and the diminution of national productivity and well -being.

EXTERNAL THREATS
In its external aspects, national security is concern safeguarding the state against outside or
foreign forces, pressures, designed to conquer it or undermine its sovereignty, or placing domination or
control of some foreign state or states. In this sense, security embraces the defense arrangements
directed at insuring the state against foreign intervention or domination.

The growing uncertainties that lie in the regional and global means the second dimension of our
national security concerns even as threat or aggression against our country remains in the remote
horizon.

The growing uncertainties that lie in the regional and global milieu make up the second
dimension of our national security concerns even as threat of external aggression against our country
remains in the remote horizon.

1. Multilateral dispute over the Spratlys Islands. This is a source of intermittent tensions,
owing to the build-up of structures, believed to be military-oriented, by some claimant
countries in the area.
2. Smuggling of firearms and contraband, illegal migration and the occasional movement
of foreign terrorists through the porous borders of our southwestern frontier.
Philippine law enforcement agencies work closely with international police organizations,
bilaterally and multilaterally, to check these activities.

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 3. Lingering effects of the currency crisis affecting the countries within the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). These are causes of regional anxieties, which tend
to aggravate political instabilities and socio -economic dislocations involving the poorest
people.
4. Serious economic disparity between rich and poor nations. This 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 are already causing
tensions.
5. Ethnic, religious and cultural conflict. This pervades 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.
6. Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). This is a threat to global security.
Nuclear materials and technologies are more accessible now than at any other time in
history. The relative ease of production of both chemical and biological weapons has made
these attractive to terrorists.
7. Transnational organized crime. This has proliferated in the era of globalization. The
International Monetary Fund estimates that global drug trafficking now accounts for two
percent of the world economy, excluding illicit capital flight and money-laundering
activity. There are links among drug trafficking, terrorism, smuggling of illegal aliens,
massive financial and bank fraud, arms smuggling and political corruption.
8. Natural disasters and environmental issues. They 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 on climate and weather patterns, strain fragile ecosystems, and put
more pressure on health and social support systems.
9. Cybernetic crime. This 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. Many vital decision-
making processes of our Government are now electronically-based and therefore vulnerable
to this threat.

Role of the youth in National Security

National Service Training Program R.A No. 9163 and Section 4, Article II, 1987
Constitution. The prime duty of the Government is to serve and protect the people. The Government
may call upon the people to defend the State. In fulfilment thereof, all citizens may be required, under
conditions provided by law, to render personal, military or civil service. Section 2, Commonwealth
Act No. 1 The preservation of the State is the obligation of every citizen.

In an article entitle “10 Ways Youth Can Make an Impact”, it provided the youth means to
contribute to the country’s national security. It emphasized that youth engagement can bring about
social change. It sends a message that the youth don’t have to wait to become adults to be significant
and active members of the society.

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 “We are addressing youth today, because youth have placed
themselves on the top of the agenda.”

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nation

1. Know your rights. Read up, get informed and practice your right!! The youth can
maximize their rights if they are well-informed. The existing rights are only of value to
the youth if they are understood, observed and used.
2. Learn about local issues. What are the concerns plaguing your community? How are
the concerns affecting you and your immediate environment? Knowing the problem can
lead to possible solutions and the youth’s role in the grand scheme of things.
3. Speak out. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind either online, through social media, and
offline, gatherings and meetings. Be assertive and express your interests. Someone is
bound to read or to listen to it. However, be responsible of what you aired and support it
with facts. Also, respect the views of others regardless if it agrees or disagrees with you.
4. Network. There is strength in numbers. Reach out to them and learn their efforts and
initiatives. It could pave way to bigger things for you.
5. Spread the word. Talk to your friends and family about the concerns and issues you
see as important. You can provide a voice to unaddressed issues, educate and influence
the people around you.
6. Join campaigns. Be one with the people having the same vision and initiative as you.
Create solutions and actions that can be done in your community.
7. Host a youth summit. Learn and share your perspectives and views with peers as well
as decisionmakers. Schools and local organizations can be of great support to you in
trying to create a forum for the exchange of ideas. Bring together different communities
and understand what you have in common, as well as your differences in interests and
perspectives.
8. Use your creativity. Use your passion for the arts and your hobbies into a productive
action towards your ideals.
9. Join/create a youth organization. Local youth organizations are great places to
expand your knowledge and become an active member of your society. If your
community doesn’t have an organization representing youth, create one. Be the
trendsetter!
10. Be an inspiration. Believe in yourself, and follow your passion. Passionate youth
will change the world.

SOURCE:https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/blog/2015/8/11/10-ways-youth-can-
make-an-impact.html

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 Activity

ACTIVITY ON THE ROLE OF THE YOUTH IN NATIONAL SECURITY

Name: ________________________________________ Section Code: _______________

Directions: Illustrate, Print, or cut out pictures to form a photo collage that would show
the role of the youth to the National Security based on the 10 Ways Youth Can Make an
Impact.

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 RUBRICS FOR THE ACTIVITY

POINTS
FOCUS
The single controlling point
made with an awareness of
task about a specific topic
5 4 3 2
Sharp, distinct Apparent point No apparent point Minimal
controlling point made about a but evidence of a evidence of
made about a single single topic with specific topic. a topic.
topic with evident sufficient
awareness of task. awareness of task.

CONTENT Substantial, specific Sufficiently Limited content Superficial

and/or illustrative developed content with inadequate and/or
The presence of ideas
content with adequate elaboration or minimal
development though facts,
demonstrating strong elaboration or explanation. content.
examples, anecdotes, details,
development and explanation.
opinions, statistics, reasons,
sophisticated ideas.
and/ or explanation
ORGANIZATION Sophisticated Functional Confused or Minimal
The order developed and arrangement of arrangement of inconsistent control of
sustained within and across content with evident content that arrangement of content
paragraphs using transitional and/or subtle sustains a logical content with or arrangeme
devices and including transitions. order with some without attempts nt
introduction and conclusion evidence of at transition.
transitions.

CREATIVITY Demonstrates Apparent No apparent Minimal

It demonstrates creative and substantial creativity demonstration of demonstrates of demonstrat
insightful words. in writing. creativity in creativity in ion of
writing. writing. creativity
in writing.

Total Score:

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