National Defense College of the Philippines

(in part copied from the public domain National Defense College of the Philippines website)[2]

The National Defense College of the Philippines was first conceived in 1957 when the military advisors of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) proposed the setting-up of a SEATO War College in the Philippines.

There were legislative moves to pass a law creating the National Defense College of the Philippines. In the House of Representatives, Congressman Manuel A. Zosa filed the House Bill No. 1420 in 1970 proposing an “Act Creating the National Defense College of the Philippines and for other Purposes.” Also in the same year, then Congressman Ramon Bagatsing filed the House Bill No. 1447 proposing an “Act Creating the National Defense College of the Philippines, Providing an Academic Board, and for Other Purposes.” In the Senate, Senator Leonardo B. Perez filed the Senate Bill No. 597 proposing an “Act Creating the National Defense College of the Philippines and for other Purposes.” However, these legislative proposals did not reach third reading because President Ferdinand Marcos dissolved the Philippine Congress.

President Marcos subsequently issued Presidential Decree No. 190 in 1973 to formally create the NDCP to "fulfill the need for an institution that will provide for continuing and intensive studies of the diversified problems related to national defense and security."[3] NDCP was then placed under the Office of the Secretary of National Defense in 1974 by virtue of P.D. No. 452.[4]

The Academic and Admission Boards were later established to oversee the academic program of the college. To carry out its teaching function, the NDCP draws top experts from the academe and senior officers with command and staff experiences from the major services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Lectures by foreign diplomats, technical experts and defense leaders also complement the instruction at the NDCP. The NDCP has managed to grow beyond its modest beginnings to train leaders in the military and civilian bureaucracy in strategic thinking.

On February 22, 1998, the college moved to its new and modern three-story building in the Academic Row, Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

The Master in National Security Administration (MNSA) Program is the main academic program of the NDCP.[5]

The MNSA is open to military officers, government officials and private sector leaders.. Civilian graduates are commissioned Lieutenant Colonels or Commanders in the AFP Reserve Force.

Many government and business executives have graduated from the MNSA program; they comprise the general membership of the NDCP Alumni Association. The NDCP has produced the following notable alumni:

• Fidel V. Ramos - twelfth president of the Philippines; former Secretary of National Defense
• Jejomar C. Binay, LLB, MNSA Vice-President; formerly Mayor of Makati
• Loren Legarda - Senator; former broadcast journalist for ABS-CBN
• Heidi Mendoza - Undersecretary General for the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services
• Francis Tolentino, LLB, MNSA - chairman, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority
• Herbert Constantine Bautista, MPA, MNSA - Mayor of Quezon City
• Thelma Dumpit-Murillo - Director, Public Relations Office, Department of Trade and Industry and Manila Times columnist; former broadcaster for ABC 5
• Teresa Aquino-Oreta - former Senator and former Representative for Malabon-Navotas
• Margarita Cojuangco, MNSA, PhD - former Governor of Tarlac
• Major General Natalio C. Ecarma III - former Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force
• Major General Ruwan Kulatunga RSP, ndc, psc - Deputy Vice Chancellor General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University

• Official website