CHAPTER 6

National Security System

Course Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this modular unit, students are expected to:
1. articulate the concept of national security and peace in the promotion of national
development;
2. identify 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.

Overview
Since the emergence of territorially based states as the political organizing principle in
Europe after 1648, the concept of security for the past 400 years predominantly meant
“protection from organized violence.” According to McNamara (1968), security includes the
promotion of economic, political, and social development in “poor nation” as:
a. a means of preventing conflicts; and
b. preserving a minimal measure of “global order” and stability.

Based on the 1992 UNDPH Human Development Report by Dr. Mahbub ul Haq, the new
approaches to security emphasizes the critical interrelationship among the most daunting
threats to human survival. Security of all people everywhere in their homes, in their job, in the
streets, in their communities, and in the environment.
We are entering a new era of human security where the concept of security will change,
dramatically. Security will be interpreted as:

1. security of people, not just territory;

2. security of individuals, not just of nations; and
3. security through development, not through arms.

Security is a national concern that every Filipino must consider to ensure peaceful
existence of the state. It shall be the State‟s primordial concern as well as to secure its
constituents.
According to Leozek Busgynski, ASEAN IV National Security in the Part-Cold War Era,
the absence of threat to territorial integrity entails the maintenance of a harmonious relationship
between its political systems and values the external environment.
It is a condition or state of being where the Filipino peoples‟ values, way of life,
institutions, welfare and well-being, sovereignty and strategic locations are protected and
enhanced.
In view of the above information, it is prime essence that in transforming the youth into
responsible citizens that orientation on concepts and mechanisms of national security be done
 to effectively carry out the task of community development. Hence, this module was formulated
to achieve the said purpose.

Lesson 1: Concept of National Security

UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines (UNACOM) Secretary General and
Foreign Affairs Usec. Rosario G. Manalo stressed that the centrepiece of this perspective is an
expanded view of national security that should assure the safety and well-being of the nation as
a whole. Any redefinition of security should integrate of hunger and poverty, and the promotion
of human rights, among the others. A threat to national security may be:

1. any action or sequence of events that threatens to drastically and quickly degrade the
quality of life of people; or
2. any development that has the potential to greatly narrow the range of policy choices
available to the government or to non-governmental entities within the state.

Definition of
Terms

1. Subversion. It is a group of conspiracy seeking to alter an existing system or

government through deceit and other unlawful means, or it is an act of an
individual or group who seek to alter an existing system through deceitful means.

2. Communism. It is a theory which advocates elimination of private ownership. It

tends to make the society stateless and classless.

3. Agitation. It is a subversive technique to arouse hatred and anger among the

people.

4. Propaganda. It is a line of persuasion to influence the belief, emotion behaviour,

attitude, and opinion of the target audience.

5. Infiltration. Deception used of legal activities. This is used to exert influence and if
possible, seize control of target groups.

6. Politics. It is an art or science concerning the winning and control over a

government.
Concept of National and Human Security
(UNDP, Human Development Report 1994)

Human Security (Kofi Annan. “Secretary-General Salutes International Workshop on Human

Security in Mongolia.”)
1. Seeks to “protect the vital core of all human livs in ways that enhance human freedoms
and human fulfillment.
2. Requires “protecting people from critical and pervasive threats” and “empowering them to
take charge of their own lives.”
3. “protection and empowerment are mutually reinforcing and cannot succeed in isolation”;
and
4. Emphasis on the “need for comprehensive, integrated and people centered solutions that
together can help people develop the building blocks of survival, livelihood and dignity.”
(UN Commission on Human Security.)

1994: UNDP referred to human security as having the following two aspects:
1. Safety from such chronic threats as hunger, disease and repression;
2. It means protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life
whether in homes, in jobs, or in communities. Such threats can exist at all levels of
national income and development.

UNDP listed the threats to human security under the following main categories:
1. Economic security 5. Personal security
2. Food security 6. Community security
3. Health security 7. Political security
4. Environmental security

Human Security and Human Development

Human security, in its broadest sense, embraces far more than the absence of violent
conflict. It encompasses human rights, good governance, access to education and health care
and ensuring that each individual has opportunities and choices to fulfil his or her potential.”

National Security and Human Security

Every step in this direction is also a step towards reducing poverty, achieving economic
growth, and preventing conflict. Freedom from want, freedom from fear, and the freedom of
future generations to inherit a healthy natural environment –these are the interrelated building
blocks of human –and therefore national security.”
Human and Ecological Security
Human and ecological security is a change in paradigm and value. A change in the
concept of security from the military phenomena to poverty, ecological degradation and rapid
demographic change.

National Security (NSC Permanent Secretariat)

Commonwealth Act No. 1, also known as the National Defense Act of 1935, is the
original policy basis of the national security program of the Republic of the Philippines.
The 1987 Constitution mandates civilian control of the military and establishes the
President as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The President also heads the National
Security Council, ostensibly the policy-making and advisory body for matters connected with
national defense. Former President Corazon Aquino re-established the council in 1986 through
an Executive Order No. 115 that provided for a National Security Council director to advise the
president on national security matters and for a National Security Council Secretariat. The
council itself is composed of the President and at least nine others: the Vice President; the AFP;
the chief of staff; National Security Council director; the Executive Secretary; and the
Secretaries of Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Interior and Local Government , Justice, and
Labor and Employment (called ministers before 1987)
Responsibility for national security was vested in the Department of National Defense. The
principal functions of the department in 1991 were to defend the State against internal and
external threats and, through the Philippine National Police, to maintain law and order. The
Secretary of National Defense, by law a civilian, was charged with advising the President on
defense matters and developing defense policy.
In 2002, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won crucial blacking from her Cabinet
and the Congress for the deployment of US soldiers in the country as part of the war on
terrorism. The President convened a meeting of the country‟s National Security Council during
that time, in a bid to pull wavering officials, including her Vice-President into line and smooth
over differences in her administration over the issue. Arroyo insisted her opposition to marshal
support for her stance to back a U.S.-led campaign against terrorism, not only to implement a
unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution calling on U.N. members to bring the perpetrators
to justice but also the Philippines‟ strategic alliance with the United States and to assist the
global campaign to end the scourge of terrorism.
National Security Advisor (NSA) and Director-General serve as Chief of Staff and adviser for
Special Concerns in National Security to the President. The NSA has a cabinet rank in the
government.
The NSC‟s function is to advise the President with respect to the integration of domestic,
foreign, and military policies relating to the national security. The NSC also serves as the
President‟s principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government
departments and agencies in matters involving the national security.
A condition or state of being where the Filipino people‟s values, way of life, institutions,
welfare and well -being, sovereignty and strategic relations are protected and enhance:
 1. Reformulation of National Security Definition
2. Expanded previous national security concepts by taking into account the close
relationship and interdependence among security, development, and governance;

3. NSC and a multi-sectoral group examined the relationship between national security and
human security in a process of conceptual redefinition.
4. Fundamental Elements of National Security

There are seven fundamental elements that lie at the core of, and therefore further amplify
our definition of national security. At the same time, they constitute the most important
challenges we face as a nation and people.
a. Socio-political stability
b. Territorial integrity
c. Economic solidarity and strength
d. Ecological balance
e. Cultural cohesiveness
f. Moral-spiritual consensus
g. External peace or international harmony

Threats to National Security

Many security threats to the Philippines are non-military in nature. Pressing security
concerns like terrorism, poverty, and environmental degradation, need to be addressed in an
informed and intelligent manner.
Internal threats. In its internal aspect, national security relates to the defense of the nation‟s
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.

Our national security concern is infused with four important dimensions. Internal threats to our
national security make up the first dimension.

1. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
2. Communist Party of the Philippines/New People‟s Army/National Democratic Front
(CPP/NPA/NDF)
3. Organized crime
4. Grave incidence of poverty
5. Economic sabotage
6. Graft and Corruption
7. Severe Calamities
8. Persistent environment degradation

External threats. In its external aspects, national security is concerned with safeguarding the
state against outside or foreign forces, pressure, 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.

The growing uncertainties that lie in the regional and global milieu make up the second
dimension of our national security concerns even as threats of external aggression against our
country remains in the remote horizon.
1. Multilateral dispute over the Spratlys Islands
2. Smuggling of firearms and contraband, illegal migration and the occasional movement of
foreign terrorists through the porous borders of our south-western frontier
3. Lingering effects of the currency crisis affecting the countries within the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEANS)
4. Serious economic disparity between rich and poor nations
5. Ethnic, religious and cultural conflict
6. Proliferation organized crimes
7. Transnational organized crimes
8. Natural disasters and environmental issues
9. Cybernetic crime

Types of Threats
1. Rebellion or insurrection. A refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as
encompassing a range of behaviours from civil disobedience and mass nonviolent
resistance, to violent and organized attempts to destroy an established authority such as
the government.
2. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. At present,
the international community has been unable to formulate a universally agreed, legally
binding, criminal law definition of terrorism. The 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 non-combatants
(civilians).
3. Murder as defined in most countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with
intent (or malice aforethought). Generally, this state of mind distinguishing murder from
other forms of homicide.
4. Kidnapping and serious illegal detention is taking away or transportation of a person
against the person‟s 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.
5. Hijacking/highway robbery is a 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 of fear. Precise definitions of the offense may
vary between jurisdictions. Robbery differs from simple theft in its use of violence and
intimidation.
 6. 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. Something „being destroyed‟ is an a „state of
destruction. e.g. Self-destructive behaviours, suicide, demolition.
These type of security threats could be minimized by having proper citizens‟ values,
commitment to support and act positively on issue related to national security and concern
for a friendly and peaceful environment.

Instructions: Read each item carefully and identify whether the statement is true or false. Write
your answers on a separate sheet of pad paper. INDICATE your NAME, COURSE and
SECTION.

1. National Security in the Philippines does not play an important role in the lives of Filipino
people.
2. The President of the Philippines serves as the commander in chief in terms of emergencies.
3. The main function of the Department of National Defense is to defend the state against
internal and external threats and, through the Philippine National Police, to maintain law and
order.
4.The President of the Philippines must have at least nine other members who will compose the
National Security Council of the country.
5. President Joseph Ejercito Estrada re-established the NSC in 1999 through an executive
order.

Lesson 2: Understanding Values of Peace

UNESCO‟s article in favor of a culture of peace in Africa is defined by the “Programme of
Action for a Culture Peace and Non-Violence” 1 as well as by UNESCO‟s Mid-Term Strategy
(2014-2021), which identifies “building peace by creating inclusive, peaceful and resilient
socities” as one of twro main areas of action for Africa. As such, the Operational Strategy for
Priority Africa integrates the development of its Flagship Programmes over the next four years,
with the first one being “Promoting a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence.” This program
represents a significant contribution to the International Decade for the Rapprochement of
Cultures (2013-2022).
Mindful of the responsibility for the promotion of peace in society, the school system is
expected to contribute to the development of understanding, solidarity, tolerance, and harmony
among people and promote knowledge, values, attitudes, and skills conducive in respect for
human rights and to the building of culture of peace.

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 IV, Populorum Progressio, March
26, 1967)

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, tranquillity, social justice, respect, and tolerance- meaning
the enhancement of life. In other words, it is the general well-being of the individual. Peace
should be viewed at different levels:

1. Personal level refers to the development of inner harmony or inner integration

characterized by such qualities as self-respect, self-confidence, ability to cope with
negative feelings (fear, anger, insecurity, and shame), and developing positive attitudes
such as cheerfulness and optimism.

2. Interpersonal Level is manifested by the relationship of an individual with one another.

The interpersonal level peace can be shown in terms of:

a) Assertiveness. The capacity of the individual to express one‟s view or exercise

one‟s right without being aggressive (injuring or violating the rights of others) or
submissive (denying one‟s views or rights).
b) Respect. To recognize the worth of others regardless of differences in social
position, culture, origin, ethnic grouping or gender.
c) Concern for others. An awareness and understanding of their needs, feelings,
and condition and extending appropriate consideration for such.
d) Cooperation. The capacity and willingness to work with others to achieve
common goal.
e) Open-mindedness. The willingness to approach difficult source of information,
people, and events with a critical but open mind.
f) Humility. The virtue to accept and recognize that others may have the ability
similar or maybe more than you have and that recognition enables you to accept
your own limitations.

3. Social /national level is concerned with addressing issues that affect society and its
social, political, and economic components. For example, addressing the issue of social
injustice such as land grabbing, forest degradation, water pollution, and others that have
a societal impact.

a) Social responsibility. An awareness of one‟s responsibility for the common

welfare and the willingness as well as the readiness to work for it.
b) Interdependence. An awareness of the impact of the decisions and actions of
individuals and groups on one another.
c) Social justice. Requires an awareness and recognition of the civil, political,
economic, social, and cultural rights, especially of the more marginalized sectors
of society and the willingness to promote and defend them.
 4. Global level is similar to the social and national level peace, global level peace is
concerned with attaining related issues that have global impact or scale such issues
include among others the issue of unfair trade relations, racial discrimination, terrorism,
militarization, environmental degradation, xenophobia, and others.

a) Respect for the environment. The value of recognizing the importance of the
resources in the environment as indicated by the act of preserving and
conserving them. Also, the efforts initiated to protect the resources of the
environment.
b) Unity in the oneness of humankind. The value of recognizing the importance of
being one with other humans as the semblance of God‟s power and love. It is
recognition that everyone is as important as the other.
c) Religious appreciation. The ability to respect and appreciate the presence of
people with religious beliefs other than his own. This recognition brings us into
realization that we have different ways of expressing our faith but we have
common aspiration to be pleasing to the Creator.
d) Cultural appreciation. A recognition of the presence of different cultures and such
differences give us the opportunity to learn from one another.

Lesson Activity
Instructions: Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the following activity. Use the given
format below in presenting your answers. INDICATE your NAME, COURSE and SECTION in
your answer sheet.
Guide Questions:
1. What does peace mean to you?
2. Based on your experience, what are the indicators of peace?
:

Peace and Its Indication

Concept of Peace Indicators of Peace