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MODULE # 6:
NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS
AND PEACE EDUCATION
OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this module, the students are expected to:
1. articulate the concept of national security and peace in the promotion of national
development;
2. identify the values that must be developed and strengthened among students in
the furtherance of national security and peace building; and
3. manifest concrete actions in forging national security and peace in the country
4. identify the importance of belonging to the National Service Reserve Corps after
completing the NSTP course
II.
ALLOTTED TIME:
III.
PRE-DISCUSSION ACTIVITY:
2 hours
30 minutes
Part of a documentary about New Peoples Army will be shown in class. After watching
the video, the following questions may be posed to the students:
1.) What must be the reasons why people are enticed to join the New Peoples Army,
despite the glaring sacrifices that they have to make?
2.) Do you think that the New Peoples Army possesses full right in fighting for its
principles?
IV.
CONTENTS
Part 1. Concepts of National Security
A. Introduction
B. National Security in the Philippines
C. Threats to National Security
D. Types of threats
E. Internal threats and external threats
Part 2. Understanding Values of Peace
A. Introduction
B. Definitions of Peace
C. Levels of Peace
D. Challenging the War System through Peace Education
Part 3. The National Service Reserve Corps: the Youths Response to the
Clamor for National Security and Peace
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Introduction
Mission
Functions
Composition
Organization of NSTP Graduate
Inter-Agency Relationship of the NSRC Concerned Agencies
Duties and Responsibilities of NSRC Members
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2. Territorial Integrity - we must ensure the permanent inviolability of our national territory and its
effective control by the Government and the State. This includes the preservation of our countrys
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.
C. 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 nations 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.
D. TYPES OF THREATS
There are six common types of threats that undermine security:
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.
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).
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.
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Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention the taking away or transportation of a person
against the persons 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.
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.
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
E. INTERNAL THREATS AND EXTERNAL THREATS
INTERNAL THREATS
Our national security is infused with four important dimensions. Internal threats to our
national security make up the first dimension.
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 Sayyaf Group (ASG), a small band of highly mobile terrorists with
suspected links to international networks.
Communist Party of the Philippines / New Peoples 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.
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 governments 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.
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.
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Economic Sabotage
Under this category are underground activities such as counterfeiting, money
laundering, large-scale smuggling, inter-oceanic poaching and commercial dumping.
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.
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.
Persistent Environment Degradation
This poses a long-term security threat. The attrition of forests and watersheds, air-landwater pollution and the proliferation of toxic substances are a cause of sickness, death and the
diminution of national productivity and well-being.
EXTERNAL THREATS
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.
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.
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.
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.
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The most significant way of promoting a culture of peace is through peace education.
Peace education needs to be accepted in all parts of the world, in all societies and countries as an
essential element in creating culture of peace. To meet effectively the challenges posed by the
present complexity of our time, the young of today deserves a radically different education- one
that does not glorify war but educates for peace nonviolence and international cooperation. They
need the skills and knowledge to create and nurture peace for their individual selves as well as for
the world they belong to.
B. PEACE DEFINED
The concept of peace varies according to the people who give meaning to it, based on the
work they do and the cultural context they come from. Some of these concepts are;
1. Peace is not just the absence of war. It is the wholeness of life where every person can live
with dignity . (Mindanao Church Peace Congress, 1996)
2. The new name of peace is development. ( Pope Paul VI, Populorum Progressio)
Peace is not just the absence of war or violence. It is more than just the absence of war
because its absence does not always mean peace. Peace, as positively defined, means the
presence of harmony, understanding, tranquility, social justice, respect, and tolerance- meaning
the enhancement of life. In other words, it is the general well-being of the individual.
Toward a Holistic Concept of Peace and Violence
Johan Galtung explains that peace is the absence of violence, not only personal or direct but
also structural or indirect. The manifestations of structural violence are the highly uneven
distribution of wealth and resources as well as the uneven distribution of power to decide over the
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distribution of the said resources. Hence, he says that peace is both the absence of personal /
direct violence and the presence of social justice.
C. LEVELS OF PEACE
Peace should be viewed at different levels:
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Conflicts can also be caused by competition for resources, extreme abuse of human rights,
desire of leaders to stay in power, narrow or extreme nationalism, and sympathy for kin across
borders.
The Effects of War
The most horrible effect of war is death. WHO (2002) reports that one person die every 100
seconds each day as a result of armed violence. The Penguin Atlas of War and Peace (2003)
indicates that approximately 75% of those killed in wras today are civilians or non-combatants.
Other sources estimate civilian deaths to even be higher, as many as 90% casualties.
Wars also result in the commitment of atrocities which are acts that go beyond what is
tolerable because of the commonly held notion that in war, anything goes. Massacres, tortures,
disappearances, sexual violence including rape, executions, assassinations, bombing, burning and
kidnapping, are examples of atrocious acts.
Wars cause people to flee their homes. It also causes weapons to proliferate. The total
number of identified nuclear weapons in the world is 26,000, of which 12,000 are actively deployed
with nine known countries in possession.
THE TOP ARMS EXPORTERS (2001 2008)
USA 41%
Russia 17%
France 8%
UK 7 %
Germany 4%
China 3%
Italy 3%
Other European Countries 11%
Others 6%
Peace Education and the War System
The UNESCO Preamble states that if wars begin in the minds of men, then it is in the
minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. Peace education is one concrete
pathway to challenge war. Peace education can help challenge thoughts that the world is divided
into good guys and bad guys and that winning over the bad guys is the way to go. Peace
education seeks to teach the concept of oneness of the human race.
Education should also help alter thoughts with regard to the inevitability of war. Humans
should understand that waging war is a choice, not a manifest destiny. Teaching students peaceful
conflict resolution skills will also help learners understand that conflicts may be approached
constructively and that there are better workable alternatives to aggression.
PART 3. THE NATIONAL SERVICE RESERVE CORPS: THE YOUTHS RESPONSE TO
THE CLAMOR FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AND PEACE
A. INTRODUCTION
Every student who has completed the National Service Training Program which is a
requisite for graduation as stipulated for graduation as stipulated under republic Act no.
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9163 known as the National training Service Program (NSTP) Act of 2001, expectedly
known the provision which states as:
Sec. 11. Creation of the National Service Reserve Corps - There is hereby
created a National Service Reserve Corps, to be composed of the graduates of the nonROTC components. Members of this Corps may be tapped by the State for literacy and
civic welfare activities through the joint effort of the DND, CHED and TESDA.
As one becomes a part of the NSCR, the responsibility to keep abreast of significant
trends, events, issues and information that effect his duty as reservist becomes more
urgent.
Related to the earlier provision, the member knows that the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED)- the Supervisory lead agency in the implementation of the Act; the
Department of National Defense (DND); and technical Education and Skills Development
Authority(TESDA), have formulated the Guidelines for the Establishment of the National
Service Reserve Corps that took effect on the Summer of 2003. Consequently, the
pioneering members of the Corps are those who complied with the requirement of the Act
during the school-year 2002-2003 and are enlisted in the Corps on the Summer of 2003.
B. MISSION
To provide a trained and motivated manpower pool that can be tapped by the State
for civic welfare, literacy and other similar endeavors in the service of the nation.
C. FUNCTIONS
D. COMPOSITION
The NSRC shall be composed of the graduates of the CWTS and LTS components of
NSTP.In accordance with the Memorandum From the Chairperson, Commission on Higher
education being issued on March 18,2003,the NSRC has been established effective Summerof
2003.Graduates of the CWTS and LTS for SY 2002-2003 are the pioneering members of the
NSRC.
To sum up, students who will be completing the NSTP requirements during the school year
2007-2008, shall belong to the 6th batch of graduates since the implementation of republic
Act No. 9163 known as the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act 2001 in the academic
year 2002-2003.
E. ORGANIZATION
The NSRC is organized under the umbrella of the National Disaster Coordinating Council
(NDCC).It shall have a national, regional, provincial and city/municipal level of organization parallel
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to the DCC structures at all levels. National Center based at NDCC Disaster Preparedness
Center, Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon City. Secretariat shall be organized and
composed of representatives from CHED and TESDA
RULE V. SECTION 11.Organization of NSTP Graduates
Paragraph a. Graduates of the non-ROTC components of the NSTP shall belong to the
NSRC and could be tapped by the State for literacy and civic welfare activities, through the joint
efforts of DND, CHED and TESDA, in coordination with DILG, DSWD, and other concerned
agencies/association.
As quoted above, it is clear that members of the NSRC could be tapped to render services
to communities in need of assistance and support during disasters and calamities, or other
activities and programs that are contributory to general welfare, through DND, CHED, and TESDA,
in coordination with the DILG which has jurisdiction to all localities; the DSWD which has the
function in looking into the welfare and development of social needs; and other concerned
agencies or associations, in order to facilitate the extending of immediate needs and services.
F. INTER-AGENCY RELATIONSHIP OF THE NSRC CONCERNED AGENCIES
RDCC Regional Disaster
Coordinating Council
PDCC Provincial Disaster
Coordinating Council
CDCC City Disaster Coordinating
Council
MDCC Municipal Disaster
Coordinating Council
BDCC Barangay Disaster
Coordinating Council
CHEDRO CHED Regional Office
TESDA RO TESDA Regional Office
TESDA PO TESDA Provincial Office
HEI Higher Education Institution
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In the presentation and discussions on the guidelines of the National Service Reserve
Corps, the potential members are provided supplemental informations and clarifications on some
issues relative to the provisions of the NSTP Act specifically the creation of the National Ser vice
Reserve Corps (NSRC). Furthermore, with the establishment of the NSRC, having well-trained,
motivated and organized members of the non-ROTC components of NSTP, who are also called
RESERVISTS, give hope to improving the Filipino communities or nation as a whole.
POST-DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
GROUP ACTIVITY:
Creative Photo on Peace
1.) Each NSTPone class will be divided into five groups. Each group will be required to produce a
creative photo depicting peace.
2.) The theme of the photo is Partnerships for Peace Dignity for all
3.) The photo can be shot anywhere and anyhow, provided that the required element, PINWHEEL,
is included in the photo
4.) Photos should be developed raw or unaltered. By this it means that the photo should have not
been edited using Adobe Photoshop or other related computer programs
5.) Each group will be required to submit three pictures attached on a short bond paper: (1) final
photo and (2) behind-the-scenes photos. Photos must be developed on a 4R size.
6.) Final outputs will be submitted a week after. Besides the hard copies of the picture, the five
groups will be required to submit a soft copy of the final photo (JPEG format with file size range
from 1MB-5MB) to their respective NSTP teacher.
7.) All NSTP teachers will then be selecting the best photo per NSTP class which will advance as
finalist to the NSTP Photography Contest entitled Say Peace.
Reference:
Labuguen, et al (2012). Understanding the National Service Training Program. Malabon
City: Mutya Publishing House, Inc.
Navarro-Castro, L., & Nario-Galace, J (2010). Peace Education: A pathway to a culture
of peace. Quezon City: Miriam College.
Labuguen, et al (2008). Towards a Responsive Community Action. Malabon City:
Mutya Publishing House, Inc.
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