Legal basis and declared rationale
- Administrative Order No. 218 is anchored on the mandates of the Department of National Defense as defined in Executive Order (EO) No. 292 (Revised Administrative Code of 1987) and EO No. 112 (series of 1999).
- EO 292 and EO 112 mandate the DND to guard against external and internal threats to national security, promote the welfare of soldiers and veterans, and provide support to socio-economic development.
- The reorganization aims to support President-declared priorities, including achieving a strategic defeat of the communist terrorist movement by 2010, destroying Abu Sayyaf and other terrorist groups, and containing secessionist groups to establish a physically and psychologically secure environment conducive to national development.
- The order treats the AFP Modernization Program pursuant to R.A. 7898 as an operative undertaking.
- The order directs restructuring to strengthen the Department’s Bids and Awards activities for efficiency and utmost regularity.
New DND organization structure
- The DND shall be reorganized under Section 1.
- There shall be five (5) Offices for Undersecretary positions:
- Defense Affairs (OUSDA)
- Civil Veterans and Reserve Affairs (OUSCVRA)
- Legal Affairs and Strategic Concerns (OUSLASC)
- Internal Affairs (OUSIA)
- Finance and Armed Forces Modernization Affairs (OUSFAFMA)
- The OUSDA, OUSCVRA, and OUSLASC Undersecretary positions are filled by regular appointments, while the OUSIA and OUSFAFMA Undersecretary positions are filled by seconding Presidential Assistants to the DND (Section 1(A)).
- There shall be five (5) Offices for Assistant Secretary positions covering five executive staff functions: Plans and Programs (OASPP), Acquisitions, Installations and Logistics (OASIL), Strategic Assessment (OASSA), Comptrollership (OASComp), and Personnel (OASPer) (Section 1(B)).
- All Assistant Secretary positions are filled by regular appointments (Section 1(B)).
- There shall be four (4) director-level offices:
- Public and Legislative Affairs (OPLA) and Legal Service (OLS) under Executive Staff
- Administrative Services Office (ASO) and Information Management Office (IMO) under Service Staff (Section 1(C)).
- All director-level positions are filled by regular appointments (Section 1(C).
Functional areas assigned by Undersecretary
- Section 2 assigns specific functional areas to each Undersecretary and sets reporting lines for key staff.
OUSDA: Defense Affairs functions
- The Office of the Undersecretary for Defense Affairs (OUSDA) covers:
- Monitoring of operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
- Defense Policy
- Defense Intelligence
- Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Units
- Maritime Security and Coast Watch
- Supervision of the National Defense College of the Philippines
- The Plans and Programs staff reports to the Undersecretary for Defense Affairs (Section 2(A)).
OUSCVRA: Civil, Veterans and Reserve functions
- The Office of the Undersecretary for Civil, Veterans and Reserve Affairs (OUSCVRA) covers:
- Civil Relations
- Reserve Force Development
- Civil Military Operations
- National Reconciliation Development and the Peace Process
- Veterans and Retirees Affairs
- Support to socio-economic development
- OUSCVRA supervises DND bureaus and offices including:
- Philippine Veterans Administration Office (PVAO), including Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) and Military Shrines Service (MSS)
- Office of the Civil Defense (OCD)
- OUSCVRA supervises DND-AFP corporations and institutions including:
- Philippine Veterans Industrial Development Corporation (PVIDC)
- Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB)
- Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP)
- AFP Retirement Separation and Benefit System (AFPRSBS)
OUSLASC: Legal Affairs and Strategic Concerns
- The Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Strategic Concerns (OUSLASC) covers:
- Legal matters and strategic concerns
- Legislative and public affairs
- Strategic assessment
- International Policy
- Counter-Terrorism
- Human Rights
- DND Representative to the Dangerous Drugs Board
- Strategic Communication, including: Public and Legislative Affairs, Public Information, and Congressional Liaison
- The Staff for Strategic Assessment, the Office for Legal Affairs, and the Office for Public and Legislative Affairs report to the Undersecretary for Legal Affairs and Strategic Concerns (Section 2(C)).
OUSIA: Internal Affairs functions
- The Undersecretary for Internal Affairs (OUSIA) covers:
- General administration and management of DND Proper
- Administrative services
- Promotion Board
- Management Information System
- The Staff for Personnel, the Administrative Services Office, and the Information Management Office report to the Undersecretary for Internal Affairs (Section 2(D)).
OUSFAFMA: Finance and Armed Forces Modernization
- The Undersecretary for Finance and Armed Forces Modernization Affairs (OUSFAFMA) covers:
- Multi-Year Capability Planning and Execution System
- Modernization
- Real Estate
- AFP Modernization Act Trust Fund
- DND Bids and Awards Committee
- Supervision of the Government Arsenal
- The Staff for Acquisition, Installations and Logistics and the Staff for Comptrollership report to the Undersecretary for Finance and Armed Forces Modernization Affairs (Section 2(E)).
Units directly under the Secretary
- The following agencies and offices directly report to the Secretary of National Defense, who exercises direct control and supervision over their operations:
- National Disaster and Coordinating Council (NDCC)
- Philippine Defense Reform (PORJ Program)
- Office of the Senior Military Assistant (OSMA)
- Internal Audit (IA)
- Defense Intelligence Security Group (DISG)
- Protocol Office (Section 2(F))
Secretary’s authority to adjust organization
- The Secretary of National Defense must periodically review the Department’s performance vis-a-vis fulfillment of its mandate (Section 3).
- The Secretary shall effect necessary changes that the Secretary deems appropriate based on periodic review (Section 3).
- Changes must include the following kinds of adjustments:
- Rotation of Undersecretaries or second level officials and transfer or re-assignment of staff assignments of Assistant Secretaries or third level officials as exigencies require, considering expertise and skills
- Transfer or re-assignment of functional areas assigned to Undersecretaries, including offices under their operational or administrative control
- Creation of units, task forces, and other ad-hoc bodies within the Department necessary to implement the mandate, subject to existing laws and regulations on rationalization and other pertinent matters
- Designation of officials in accordance with existing civil service laws and rules (Section 3)
Immediate transitory reorganization of Bids and Awards
- During exigency of service, and notwithstanding Section 3, the Secretary must immediately effect the reorganization of the DND Bids and Awards Committee (Section 4).
- The Secretary must include the appointment of new members in accordance with existing laws and implementing rules and regulations (Section 4).
Repeal and organizational consistency
- Administrative Order No. 167, series of 2006, and all other issuances, circulars, and orders inconsistent with Administrative Order No. 218 are revoked or amended accordingly (Section 5).