Administrative Code of 1987/Book IV/Title VIII/Subtitle II/Chapter 6

by Corazon Aquino

Layout 2

Chapter 6—Armed Forces of the Philippines

Sec. 33. Functions.—The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) shall:

(1) Uphold the sovereignty, support the Constitution, and defend the territory of the Republic of the Philippines against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

(2) Promote and advance the national aims, goals, interests and policies;

(3) Plan, organize, maintain, develop and deploy its regular and citizen reserve forces for national security; and

(4) Perform such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned by higher authorities.

Sec. 34. Composition.—(1) The AFP shall be composed of a citizen armed force which shall undergo military training and serve, as may be provided by law. It shall be organized and maintained in a manner that shall render it capable of rapid expansion from a peacetime organization to a wartime or emergency organization. The AFP shall keep a regular force necessary for the security of the State. The officers and men of the regular force shall be recruited proportionately from all provinces and cities as far as practicable. (2) The Standing Force shall be composed of regular officers and enlisted personnel; reservists called to active duty; draftees; trainees and government-sponsored Filipino cadets enrolled in local or foreign military schools. In time of peace, the size and composition of the Standing Force shall be prescribed by the Secretary of National Defense, upon recommendation of the Chief of Staff.

(3) The Citizen Armed Force shall be composed of all reservists, and officers and enlisted men on inactive status. All able-bodied citizens shall undergo military training, after which they shall become reservists with appropriate ranks. All reservists in a particular locality shall be organized into reserve geographical units subject to call and mobilization as the need arises, individually or as a unit. The Secretary of National Defense shall prescribe and implement a continuing program of recruitment and training for the Citizen Armed Force to enable it to respond to all types of threats to national security.

Sec. 35. Organizational Structure.—The AFP shall consist of the General Headquarters; the Mayor Services namely; the Philippine Army, the Philippine Air Force, the Philippine Navy and, until otherwise provided by law, the Philippine Constabulary; and other existing units, services and commands of the AFP. The Secretary of National Defense may, in accordance with the policies or directives of the President, create additional units, services and commands, or reorganize the AFP in response to any situation or in pursuance of operational or contingency. No Mayor Service may be unfilled, inactivated or merged with another Major Service, without the approval of the Congress.

Sec. 36. Basic, Technical and Administrative Service.—(1) The basic services of the AFP shall be composed of the major services. Enlisted personnel of the standing force and the reserve force must belong to one of the basic services.

(2) The technical services of the AFP shall be composed of Medical Corps, Dental Service, Nurse Corps, Veterinary Corps and the Judge Advocate General Service.

(3) The Administrative service shall consist of the Chaplain Service, Women Auxiliary Corps, Medical Administrative Corps and the Corps of Professors.

(4) Appropriate military occupational specialties may be prescribed by the Chief of Staff or each of the basic, technical and administrative services.

(5) Appointment of officers to the basic, technical and administrative services, and enlisted in the basic service shall be governed by rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of National Defense.

Sec. 37. The Citizen Armed Force.—(1) The Secretary of National Defense shall cause the organization of the Citizen Armed Force into Geographical Units throughout the country. The Citizen Armed Force Geographical Units shall consist of cadre of officers and men in the Standing Force and all qualified reservists residing in a particular locality. The cadre may, however, be assigned to another unit in the active force while the Geographical Units to which they are assigned are on inactive status.

(2) Whenever dictated by military necessity, and upon the recommendation of the Secretary of National Defense and approved by the President, the Citizen Armed Force may be called or mobilized to complement the operations of the regular force of the AFP or to support the regular force formations or units. For this purpose, Active Auxiliary Units which shall be part of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Units, may be utilized, to be constituted out of volunteers to be screened in consultations with the local executives and civic or business leaders. The status of Active Auxiliary Units shall be of a degree of activation of military reservists short of full active duty status. They shall not be vested with law-enforcement or police functions.

(3) All members of the Citizen Armed Force on training or service shall be subject to military law and the Articles of War.

Sec. 38. Tactical and Territorial Organization.—Unless otherwise prescribed by law, the major services and other units of the AFP may be organized into such commands, forces and organizations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of National Defense. For this purpose, the territory of the Philippines may be divided into such tactical and geographical areas and zones or regions and districts as the Secretary of National Defense may direct.

Sec. 39. Organizational Principles.—The organizational structure of the AFP shall provide for:

(1) Centralized direction and control of General Headquarters to insure unity and coordination of efforts throughout the military establishment;

(2) Decentralized execution of operations to the Major Services and other separate units to achieve maximum operational efficiency within the military establishment;

(3) Common doctrine, standardized procedures and techniques throughout the military establishment to assure common understanding among all its forces and elements, facilitating thereby the attainment of maximum operational efficiency and effectiveness;

(4) Development of self-reliance concepts for each Major Service to insure national defense and security and maximum utilization of resources; and

(5) Development of the capability to participate in the infrastructure projects of the government.