CREATING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES AND PROVIDING FOR AN ACADEMIC BOARD THEREFOR

WHEREAS, the need for an institution to provide for
continuing and intensive studies of the diversified problems relative to
national defense and security has long been felt in the Department of
National Defense;

WHEREAS, the Government is strongly committed to the
proposition that the defense of the State is the prime duty of every
citizen such that the preparation, mobilization and execution of plans
which involve the financial, industrial, economic, social and moral
forces and resources of the nation are responsibilities which should be
borne not only by the Department of National Defense but also by the
other branches of the Government as well as the private sector;

WHEREAS, in order to effectively implement these plans,
there is an urgent need for a highly reputable educational and doctrinal
center to turn out needed qualified military leaders and civilian
executives; and

WHEREAS, there were pending before Congress prior to the
promulgation of Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, House
Bill No. 1447 entitled “An Act Creating the National Defense College of
the Philippines, Providing for an Academic Board and for Other Purposes”
and Senate Bill No. 597 entitled “An Act Creating the National ‘Defense
College of the Philippines and for Other Purposes”;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines by virtue of the powers vested ,n me by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and
pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081 dated September 21, 1972, and General
Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended do hereby order and
decree that the above-mentioned bills denominated as House Bill No 1447
and Senate Bill No 597, which are integrated and modified hereunder and
made a part hereof, shall henceforth be part of the law of the land;

SECTION 1. There shall be established in the Armed Forces
of the Philippines an educational institution to be known as the
“National Defense College of the Philippines.”

SEC. 2. The College shall be specifically designed and
geared to prepare and train potential national defense leaders and
civilian officers of the different branches of the Government for key
positions.

SEC. 3. The National Defense College of the Philippines as
herein established shall be organized and administered by the Chief of
Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, under the general supervision
and control of the Secretary of National Defense. It shall be
administered through the President of the College with the assistance of
an Academic Board to be composed of the Executive Vice-President and
the Heads of the College departments, and shall have the power, to
confer the degree of Master in National Security Administration (MNSA)
upon all its students who will satisfactorily complete the prescribed
course of students: Provided, however, That students completed the
regular course of the college prior to the approval of this Decree are
herby declared eligible to the privileges conferred hereof. The
Executive Vice-President shall be ex officio head of the Academic
Department.

SEC. 4. The Academic Board shall assist the President of
the College in the discharge of the following functions:

(a) To supervise the academic affairs of the college;
(b) To recommend academic consultants, lecturers, professors, and
instructors of the College; and

(c) To recommend the course of study which shall include, but not
necessarily limited to, all facets and elements of national power.

SEC. 5. The professors, instructors, lecturers, and
consultants of the College shall as much as possible, be drawn from the
military and civilian branches of the National Government and
governmental educational institutions. All academic consultants
professors instructors or lecturers, whether civilian or military
personnel, in addition to their salaries’ shall be entitled to receive
honorarium or fees as fixed by the Secretary of National Defense;

SEC. 6. (a) Upon request of the President of the
College, the various Heads of Departments, offices or agencies of the
National Government are hereby authorized to detail officers and
employees for duty in the college.

(b) The President of the College shall, within thirty (30)
days from the opening of each class of the College, circularize student
quota spaces to the different Heads of Departments, offices, and
agencies of the National Defense.
(c) Allowances of military and civilian personnel detailed with
the College for duty therein, as well as those of students of the
College, shall be fixed by the Secretary of National Defense.

SEC. 7. Graduates of the College will receive, for purposes
of promotion to key and sensitive positions in the military and
civilian offices, preferential considerations and/or credit points in
the grade or class of their respective positions.

Civilian
graduates of the NDCF who are in the Reserve Force or who may be
commissioned in the active service shall be promoted to or receive the
initial rank of Lt. Colonel as the case may be.

Authority to use
with honor the abbreviation MNSA after their names shall be given to all
graduates of this College.

SEC. 8. The Secretary of
National Defense is hereby empowered to promulgate rules and regulations
to effectively implement the purpose of this Decree.

SEC. 9. Such sum or sums as may be needed to carry out
the provisions of this Decree which are now appropriated for the
National Defense College of the Philippines shall continue to be carried
in the annual General Appropriations Act.

This Decree shall take effect immediately.

Done in the
City of Manila, this 11th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen
hundred and seventy-three.