NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

Bernie C. Lechuga, RN,MAN,LPT

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this module, the students are expected to:
1. Articulate the concept of national security.
2. Identify the values that must be developed and strengthened among
students in the furtherance of national security and;
3. Manifest concrete actions in forging national.
4. Identify the role of the youth and the importance of belonging to
the National Service Reserve Corps after completing the NSTP course.
CONCEPTS OF NATIONAL SECURITY
INTRODUCTION
We are entering a new era of human security
where the concept of security will change, and
change dramatically. Security will be interpreted
as:
1. security of people, not just of 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 to secure its constituents.
• 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.
NATIONAL SECURITY IN THE PHILIPPINES
• Commonwealth Act No. 1, also known as the
National Defense Act, 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, the policy-making and advisory body for
matters connected with national defense.
The council itself is composed of the
President and at least nine others:
• Vice President
• AFP chief of staff
• National Security Council director
• Executive Secretary
• Secretary of Foreign Affairs
• Secretary of National Defense
• Secretary of Interior and Local Government
• Secretary of Justice
• Secretary of Labor and Employment
• 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 backing from her cabinet and the
Congress for the deployment of US soldiers in the
country as part of the war on terrorism.
• 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.
Socio-Political Stability
• the government and the people must
engage in nation-building under the
rule of law, Constitutional democracy
and the full respect for human rights.
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
country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
and its protection from illegal incursions
and resource exploitation.
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.
Ecological Balance
• national survival rests upon the
effective conservation of our natural
environment in the face of industrial
and agricultural expansion and
population growth.
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.
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.
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.
THREATS TO NATIONAL SECURITY
Many security threats to the Philippines
are non-military in nature.
Pressing security concerns like 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 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.
• 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
sovereignity, or placing under the domination or
control of some foreign state or states.
• In this sense, national security embraces the
defense arrangements directed at ensuring the
safety of the state against foreign intervention or
domination.
TYPES OF THREATS
• Rebellion or insurrection
• Terrorism
• Murder
• Kidnapping and Serious illegal detention
• Highjacking/ Highway robbery
• Crimes involving destruction
INTERNAL THREATS AND
EXTERNAL THREATS
INTERNAL THREATS
• Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Abu Sayyaf
Group (ASG)
• Communist Party of the Philippines / New People’s
Army / National Democratic Front (CPP / NPA / NDF)
• Organized Crime
• Grave Incidence of Poverty
• Economic Sabotage
• Graft and Corruption
• Severe Calamities
• Persistent Environment Degradation
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 People’s
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.
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
government’s 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.
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-
land, water pollution and the proliferation of
toxic substances are a cause of sickness, death
and the diminution of national productivity
and well-being.
 EXTERNAL THREATS
• Multilateral dispute over the • Serious economic disparity
Spratlys Islands between rich and poor nations
• Smuggling of firearms and • Ethnic, religious and cultural
contraband, illegal migration and conflict
the occasional movement of • Proliferation of weapons of mass
foreign terrorists through the destruction (WMD)
porous borders of our • Transnational organized crime
southwestern frontier
• Natural disasters and
• Lingering effects of the currency environmental issues
crisis affecting the countries within
the Association of • Cybernetic crime
• Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
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
• 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.
Currency Crisis
• 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.
Serious economic disparity between
rich and poor nations
• This keeps the world in a state of instability
and virtually on the brink of war in many
places.
• Local or regional shortages of fresh water,
arable land, food, fisheries, and energy are
already causing tensions.
Ethnic, religious and cultural conflict

• This pervades many regions and nations,

including our own.
• It is constantly exacerbated by mass poverty,
limited access to resources, denial of human
rights, lack of national integration and
international issues.
Proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction (WMD)
• This is a threat to global security.
• Nuclear materials and technologies are more
accessible now than at any other time in
history.
• The relative ease of production of both
chemical and biological weapons has made
these attractive to terrorists.
Transnational organized crime
• This has proliferated in the era of globalization.
• The International Monetary Fund estimates
that global drug trafficking now accounts for
two percent of the world economy, excluding
illicit capital flight and money-laundering
activity.
• There are links among drug trafficking,
terrorism, smuggling of illegal aliens, massive
financial and bank fraud, arms smuggling and
political corruption.
Natural disasters and environmental
issues
• They will continue to pervade the global
security agenda.
• Mankind’s global activities –particularly
population growth, resource consumption,
pollution, urbanization, industrialization,
desertification and deforestation – will
increasingly impact on climate and weather
patterns, strain fragile ecosystems, and put
more pressure on health and social support
systems.
Role of Youth in National Security

• United Nations Security Council (UNSC)

created a resolution on Youth, Peace and
Security.
• There are certain networks under this, one of
such teams is the Youth Advocacy Team (YAT).
• It is a group of committed young peace
builders whose main aim is to guarantee a
meaningful role for youth in peace building,
conflict prevention and conflict resolution, for
youth and youth organizations in promoting
peace and nonviolence, and mobilizing youth
for post-conflict reconstruction.
• It also encourages the adoption of measures
aimed to the protection of young people in
conflict and post-conflict, and
• ensures increased representation and
participation of youth at all decision-making
levels as active agents in peace and security.
THANK YOU!