Policy and guiding principles
- Government has the duty to serve and protect citizens, while citizens have the responsibility to defend the security of the State through required personal military or civil service (Section 1).
- The State promotes civic consciousness among the youth and develops their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being (Section 2).
- The State inculcates patriotism and nationalism and advances youth involvement in public and civic affairs (Section 2).
- The youth are motivated, trained, organized, and involved in military, literacy, civic welfare programs, and similar endeavors in service of the nation (Section 2).
Key definitions and terms
- The National Service Training Program (NSTP) is the program aimed at enhancing civil consciousness and defense preparedness in youth by developing the ethics of service and patriotism while undergoing training in any of the three NSTP components (Rule II, Section 3(a)).
- Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is the program component institutionalized under Sections 38 and 39 of Republic Act No. 7077 to provide military training to tertiary level students to motivate, train, organize, and mobilize them for national defense preparedness (Rule II, Section 3(b)).
- Literacy Training Service (LTS) is the program component designed to train students to teach literacy and numeracy skills to school children, out-of-school youths, and other segments of society in need of their services (Rule II, Section 3(c)).
- Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS) is the program component or activities contributory to general welfare and community betterment, including improvement of health, education, environment, entrepreneurship, safety, recreation, moral of the citizenry, and other social welfare services (Rule II, Section 3(d)).
- A Program Component refers to the service components of NSTP as defined in the rules (Rule II, Section 3(e)).
- Clustering is the grouping of students enrolled in different schools taking up the same NSTP component into one group under management and supervision of a designated school (Rule II, Section 3(f)).
- Cross-Enrollment is enrollment where a student is officially enrolled in an academic program of a school but is allowed to enroll in the NSTP component of another school (Rule II, Section 3(g)).
- Non-Government Organization (NGO) refers to any private organization duly accredited by CHED or recognized by TESDA (Rule II, Section 3(h)).
Program coverage, components, and duration
- All incoming freshmen students, male and female, starting School Year (SY) 2002-2003, enrolled in any baccalaureate and at least two (2) year technical-vocational or associate courses, must complete one (1) NSTP component of their choice as a graduation requirement (Section 4(a)).
- All higher and technical-vocational education institutions must offer at least one (1) NSTP component (Section 4(b)).
- State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) must offer the ROTC component and at least one (1) other NSTP component (Section 4(c)).
- The Philippine Military Academy (PMA), Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA), Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), and other SUCs of similar nature are exempted from NSTP (Section 4(d)).
- Private higher and technical-vocational education institutions with at least 350 student cadets may offer the ROTC component and establish/maintain a Department of Military Science and Tactics (DMST) subject to AFP rules (Section 4(e)).
- NSTP components consist of ROTC, LTS, and CWTS, and students may choose among them (Section 5(a)).
- All program components, particularly ROTC, must emphasize citizenship training and instill patriotism, moral virtues, respect for rights of civilians, and adherence to the Constitution (Section 5(b)).
- CHED and TESDA, in consultation with DND, PASUC, COCOPEA, and other concerned government agencies, may design and implement other non-military training components as necessary in consonance with R.A. 9163 (Section 5(c)).
- CHED, TESDA, and DND must issue the minimum standards for the three NSTP components within thirty (30) days from approval of the IRR (Section 5(d)).
- Each NSTP component must be undertaken for two (2) semesters (Section 6(a)).
- Each NSTP component is credited for three (3) per semester, for fifty-four (54) to ninety (90) training hours per semester (Section 6(a)).
- A one (1) summer program may be designed in lieu of the two (2) semester program, subject to school capability and AFP capability to handle it (Section 6(b)).
Clustering, cross-enrollment, and supervision
- Clustering may be done during semestral or summer periods for any NSTP component, taking into account logistics, branch of service, and geographical locations; the host school manages the program (Section 7(a)).
- Schools that do not meet the required number of students to maintain the optional ROTC or any NSTP components, or do not offer the component chosen by students, must allow cross-enrollment to other schools irrespective of CHED or TESDA affiliation (Section 7(b)).
- For ROTC cross-enrollment, students may cross-enroll irrespective of whether the two semesters are taken from different schools whose ROTC are administered/managed by different AFP branches (Section 7(b)).
- Students intending to cross-enroll must comply with the rules of both the school of origin and the accepting school (Section 7(c)).
- School authorities exercise academic and administrative supervision over design, formulation, adoption, and implementation of NSTP components in their schools (Section 8(a)).
- For ROTC, school authorities and DND exercise joint supervision over implementation subject to DND policies, regulations, and programs on the military component (Section 8(b)).
- If CHED-accredited or TESDA-recognized NGOs formulate and administer NSTP training modules, school authorities and the NGOs jointly exercise academic and administrative supervision (Section 8(c)).
- CHED, TESDA, and DND must issue necessary guidelines for accreditation of NGOs and training modules within forty-five (45) days from approval and issuance of the IRR (Section 8(c)).
- CHED Regional Offices, TESDA Provincial/District Offices, and DND-AFP through Major Service Reserve Commands oversee and monitor NSTP implementation within their jurisdictions and submit periodic reports to the central offices of CHED, TESDA, and DND (Section 8(d)).
Fees, incentives, and insurance
- No fees shall be collected for any NSTP component except basic tuition fees (Section 9(a)).
- Basic tuition fees for NSTP must not exceed fifty (50%) percent of the charges of the school per academic unit (Section 9(a)).
- DND must provide and administer a program of assistance/incentives for ROTC students in accordance with existing laws and regulations and subject to availability of funds (Section 10(a)).
- School authorities concerned, CHED, and TESDA must ensure health and accident group insurances are provided for students enrolled in any NSTP component (Section 10(b)).
- Schools already providing health and accident group insurance and collecting necessary fees for that purpose as of the IRR’s effectivity are deemed compliant with the insurance requirement (Section 10(c)).
- CHED and TESDA administer a Special Scholarship Program for qualified NSTP students, with funds included in their annual regular appropriations subject to availability of funds (Section 10(d)).
NSTP graduates organization
- Graduates of the non-ROTC NSTP components belong to the National Service Reserve Corps (NSRC) and may be tapped by the State for literacy and civic welfare activities through joint efforts of DND, CHED, and TESDA coordinated with DILG, DSWD, and other concerned agencies/associations (Section 11(a)).
- CHED, TESDA, and DND, in consultation with other concerned government and non-government agencies, issue guidelines for establishment, organization, maintenance, and utilization of NSRC (Section 11(b)).
- Graduates of ROTC form part of the Citizens Armed Force pursuant to RA 7077, subject to DND requirements (Section 11(c)).
Transitory graduation rules
- Completion of ROTC as a graduation requisite is set aside for students who completed all academic requirements for their courses as certified by the school on or before March 23, 2002 (effectivity date of the NSTP Act of 2001); such students may apply for graduation with their respective schools (Section 12(a)).
- Male students not covered by Section 12 who are currently enrolled but have not taken any Military Service (MS), Civic Welfare Service (CWS), or Law Enforcement Service (LES) programs are covered by the NSTP law (Section 13(a)).
- Male students who have completed two (2) semesters of the Expanded ROTC (E-ROTC)/National Service Program (NSP) are deemed to have complied with the NSTP requirement (Section 13(b)).
- Male students not covered by Section 12 who have taken only one (1) semester of Basic ROTC or E-ROTC/NSP must take one (1) more semester of any NSTP component to qualify for graduation (Section 13(c)).
- Students who want to qualify for enlistment in the Reserve Force or attend the Advance ROTC program must undertake a special program for that purpose (Section 13(d)).
Information, amendments, and separability
- CHED, TESDA, and DND provide information on the Act and the IRR to all concerned public through different information dissemination modes (Section 14(a)).
- Section 35 of Commonwealth Act No. 1, Executive Order No. 207 of 1939, Sections 2 and 3 of Presidential Decree No. 1706, and Sections 38 and 39 of Republic Act No. 7077, as well as all laws, decrees, orders, rules, and regulations, and other issuances inconsistent with the Act, are deemed amended and modified accordingly (Section 15(a)).
- The rules may be amended, modified, or replaced jointly by CHED, TESDA, and DND in consultation with PASUC, COCOPEA, NGOs, and recognized student organizations (Section 15(b)).
- If any section or provision is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining sections or provisions not affected remain in full force and effect (Section 16(a)).