Legal basis and declared intent
- Republic Act No. 207 empowers the President to appoint and commission Reserve Officers into the Regular Force in grades above second lieutenant within a period of two years from its approval.
- Republic Act No. 207 also authorizes the President to prescribe rules and regulations for those appointments and commissions.
- The order requires appointments and commissions to be made on a fair and equitable basis, considering the fitness of Reserve Officers for Regular Force commissions.
- The order also requires appointments and commissions to consider the need to provide officers already in the Regular Force with reasonable security in their present grades and relative seniority.
Coverage: rank, branches, and promotion lists
- Appointments and commissions in the Regular Force under the order are for the grades of first lieutenant, captain, and major, and equivalent grades in the Naval Patrol.
- The Chief of Staff determines the number of officers to be appointed in or assigned to the several arms, branches, or services of the Regular Force.
- Reserve Officers placed in the Regular Force (subject to the branch-specific rules in the order) are inserted into the Regular Force promotion list in accordance with their credited active commissioned service.
Eligibility requirements for Reserve Officers
- A Reserve Officer must be a citizen of the Philippines.
- A Reserve Officer must be at least 25 years of age on May 28, 1948.
- A Reserve Officer must have good moral character.
- A Reserve Officer must be physically fit for general military service.
- A Reserve Officer must have passed examination as may be prescribed by order of the Secretary of National Defense.
Service credit and special flying-cadet credit
- Eligible Reserve Officers receive credit for their total period of active commissioned service up to May 28, 1948 in the Army or Armed Forces of the Philippines, any guerrilla unit duly recognized as a component thereof, or the Army of the United States.
- If an additional fraction of active commissioned service equals six months or more, that fraction is counted as a complete year.
- Each Air Corps officer who was a flying cadet on or after December 8, 1941 receives additional credit equivalent to one year of active commissioned service for every two years spent as a flying cadet.
Appointment grades and promotion-list placement
- Reserve Officers appointed and commissioned in the Regular Force (except those appointed in the Air Corps, Naval Patrol, Judge Advocate General’s Service, Medical Corps, Dental Corps, and Nurse Corps) are placed on the Regular Force promotion list as follows:
- Those with 12 or more years of active commissioned service are placed at the bottom of officers who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1938 and below all other officers (not PMA graduates) who follow immediately the PMA graduates of that year in the list.
- Those with 11 or more but less than 12 years of active commissioned service are placed immediately above the list of officers who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1940.
- Those with 10 or more but less than 11 years are placed at the bottom of the list of Regular Officers who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1940 and below all other officers (not PMA graduates) who follow immediately the PMA graduates of that year in the list.
- Those with nine or more but less than 10 years are placed at the bottom of the list of officers who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1941 and below all other officers (not PMA graduates) who follow immediately the PMA graduates of that year in the list.
- Those with eight or more but less than nine years are placed at the bottom of the list of Regular Officers who would have graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1942.
- Those with seven or more but less than eight years are placed at the bottom of the list of Regular Officers who would have graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1943.
- Those with six or more but less than seven years are placed immediately below the list of regular officers who would have graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1944.
- Those with four or more but less than six years are placed immediately below the list of regular officers who would have graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1945.
- A Reserve Officer inserted in the Regular Force promotion list (under the above rule) is appointed in the grade equal to the grade of the officer above whom the Reserve Officer is placed.
- Branch-specific grade rules apply:
- Air Corps: with four or more but less than six years of active commissioned service → first lieutenant; with six or more but less than eight years → captain; with eight or more years → major.
- Judge Advocate General’s Service or Medical Corps: with less than seven years → first lieutenant; with seven or more but less than ten years → captain; with ten or more years → major.
- Naval Patrol, Dental Corps, and Nurse Corps: with four or more but less than seven years → lieutenant junior grade or first lieutenant; with seven or more but less than eleven years → lieutenant or captain; with eleven or more years → lieutenant commander or major.
- Reserve Officers appointed and commissioned in the Air Corps, Naval Patrol, Judge Advocate General’s Service, Medical Corps, Dental Corps, and Nurse Corps are placed at the bottom of the list of regular officers of the same permanent grade in the applicable promotion list.
- A Reserve Officer who was formerly a cadet at the Philippine Military Academy but did not graduate may not be senior to any of that Reserve Officer’s classmates at the Academy.
- Seniority among officers appointed and commissioned under the order is determined by active commissioned service in the Army or Armed Forces of the Philippines.
- Where active commissioned service is identical, order or rank is determined by seniority in age.
- Where both active commissioned service and age are identical, order of rank is determined by the officers’ educational and military preparation.
Age and roster-based disqualifications for appointment
- Except for Air Corps appointments, no Reserve Officer may be appointed as a commissioned officer in the Regular Force if the officer’s roster position (as determined under Section 5(b)) or the officer’s length of service (as determined under Section 5(d) and Section 5(e)) qualifies the officer for appointment but the officer exceeds the following age limits on May 28, 1948:
- Qualification for first lieutenant (or lieutenant junior grade) but age is over 35.
- Qualification for captain (or lieutenant) but age is over 40.
- Qualification for major (or lieutenant commander) but age is over 45.
- For the Air Corps, no Reserve Officer may be appointed as a commissioned officer of the Regular Force if the officer’s length of service (as determined under Section 5(c)) qualifies the officer for appointment but the officer exceeds the following age limits on May 28, 1948:
- Qualification for first lieutenant but age is over 30.
- Qualification for captain but age is over 34 (on May 28, 1.948 as stated in the provision).
- Qualification for major but age is over 41.
Probation, permanent commission, and grade protection
- All appointments made pursuant to Republic Act No. 207 and Executive Order No. 242 are probationary for a period of one year.
- During the probationary period, the President may revoke an appointment of an officer found unfit for the commission upon recommendation of the Secretary of National Defense.
- If the officer completes the probationary period and no steps are taken to revoke the appointment, the officer is deemed permanently appointed and commissioned to the Regular Force as of the date of the probationary appointment.
- A Reserve Officer holding a temporary grade at the time of appointment under the order is not reduced to the permanent grade in which the officer may be appointed in the Regular Force solely by reason of that appointment.
Resignation restriction and appointment exceptions
- No Reserve Officer who has once resigned a commission in the Regular Force or Reserve Force, Army, or Armed Forces of the Philippines may be appointed under the order.
- This prohibition allows appointment only for resignation made for the purpose of accepting an appointment into the Regular Force pursuant to the order.
- The prohibition also allows appointment when the Secretary of National Defense specifically determines that any such resignation was justifiable.
Implementation authority and procedure rulemaking
- The Secretary of National Defense prescribes regulations and procedures for the selection and appointment of Reserve Officers into the Regular Force in accordance with the order.
Duration and continuity
- The order governs appointments and commissions only during the operational period that ends with the expiration of the two-year period under Republic Act No. 207.
- The order remains effective until that two-year period expires, without needing a further renewal.