The university's Board of Regents then made representations to the United States Department of War through the Governor-General and received the services of a United States Army officer who took on the duties of a professor of Military Science. Through this arrangement, the first official ROTC unit in the Philippines was established in the University of the Philippines on 3 July 1922. The National
University, Ateneo de Manila University, Liceo de Manila, and Colegio de San Juan de Letran soon followed suit and organized their own respective ROTC units. In 1936, the Office of the Superintendent for ROTC Units under the Philippine Army was activated to supervise all ROTC units in the country. National Defense Act of 1935
President Manuel Quezon controlled the National Assembly which enacted the National Defense Act of 1935
President Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 1706 in 1980
President Corazon Aquino signed Republic Act 7077 into law in 1991
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act 9163 into law in 2002
Main article: National Defense Act of 1935
President Manuel L. Quezon issued Executive Order No. 207 in 1939 in order to implement the National Defense Act of 1935, otherwise known as Commonwealth Act No. 1,[4] the embodiment of the national defense plan formulated by General Douglas MacArthur for the Philippine Commonwealth. This executive order made ROTC obligatory at all colleges and universities with a total enrollment of 100 students and greater. This measure was made in order to help fill out the reserve force requirement of 400,000 men by 1946 and especially for junior reserve officers. World War II
Main article: Military history of the Philippines during World War II
At the onset of World War II in 1941, thirty-three colleges and universities in the Philippines had organized ROTC units, the cadets and officers of which would see action for the first time. Elements from different ROTC units in Metro Manila took part in the Battle of Bataan. ROTC cadets of Silliman University in the Visayas made up 45% of the strength of the 75th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). Volunteers from the Philippine Military Academy and various other ROTC units formed the Hunters ROTC guerrilla group, which took part in the resistance movement during the Japanese occupation after the last American and Filipino forces had surrendered. Post-World War II
On 13 September 1946, Philippine Army Headquarters reactivated the pre-war ROTC units. The Philippine Army became the Armed Forces of the Philippines on 23 December 1950, at which time the Philippines was divided into four military areas and ROTC units operating within these areas fell under the supervision of their respective Area Commanders. On 8 February 1967, President Ferdinand Marcos rescinded Executive Order No. 207 of 1939, promulgating Executive Order No. 59 in its place. This executive order made ROTC mandatory at all colleges, universities and other institutions with an enrollment of 250 male students and greater.[6] President Marcos also issued Presidential Decree No. 1706, otherwise known as the "National Service Law", on 8 August 1980. It made national service obligatory for all Filipino citizens and specified three categories of national service: civic welfare service, law enforcement service and military service. Republic Act 7077
Republic Act 7077, otherwise known as the "Citizen Armed Forces of the Philippines Reservist Act", was enacted by the 8th Congress of the Philippines on 27 June 1991. The Reservist Act provided for organization, training and utilization of reservists, referred to in the Act as "Citizen Soldiers". The primary pool of manpower for the reservist organization are graduates of the ROTC basic and advance courses.
