The National Security Council (NSC; fil, Sanggunian sa Pambansang Seguridad) is the principal forum of the

president of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of t ...

considering

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

and

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials. The NSC consists of two distinct bodies – the Council Proper and the National Security Council Secretariat. The council proper is a collegial body chaired by the President. It includes concerned officials of the Cabinet and Congress, as members, as well as other government officials and private citizens who may be invited by the president. The council was created during the

Quirino Quirino, officially the Province of Quirino ( ilo, Probinsia ti Quirino; tl, Lalawigan ng Quirino), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon. Its capital is Cabarroguis. It is named after Elpi ...

Administration through Executive Order (EO) No. 330, dated July 1, 1950. It was reorganized by virtue of EO No. 115, series of 1986. The NSC secretariat is a permanent body that provides technical support to the council proper. It is headed by the Director-General and the National Security Adviser.

History

Commonwealth Act No. 1 is the original policy basis of the national security program of the

Republic of the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. That act mandated the establishment of a Council of National Defense to advise with the President on all matters of national defense policy, with membership consisting of the President, all living former Presidents, the Vice President, the head of each executive department, the Chief of Staff, and six other members to be designated by the President. Subsequent to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, which included a period during which the Commonwealth government operated as a

government in exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile us ...

, and subsequent to the

recognition Recognition may refer to: *Award, something given in recognition of an achievement Machine learning *Pattern recognition, a branch of machine learning which encompasses the meanings below Biometric * Recognition of human individuals, or biomet ...

of the

as a sovereign nation, President

Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (born Elpidio Quirino y Rivera; ; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the sixth president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino enter ...

established the National Security Council as a body so named. The

1987 Constitution The Constitution of the Philippines (Filipino: ''Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas'' or ''Konstitusyon ng Pilipinas'', Spanish: ''Constitución de la República de Filipinas'') is the constitution or the supreme law of the Republic of the Philippines ...

mandates

civilian control of the military Civilian control of the military is a doctrine in military and political science that places ultimate responsibility for a country's strategic decision-making in the hands of the civilian political leadership, rather than professional militar ...

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 Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

reestablished the council in 1986 through an executive order 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 A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

; the AFP chief of staff; National Security Council director; the

Executive Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

; and the Secretaries of

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

National Defense National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military attac ...

, Interior and Local Government,

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

, and Labor and Employment (called ministers before 1987). By the end of 1990, however, the National Security Council had only convened twice.Philippine Department of National Defense, GlobalSecurity.org
/ref> 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 The Philippine National Police ( fil, Pambansang Pulisya ng Pilipinas, acronymed as PNP) is the armed national police force in the Philippines. Its national headquarters is located at Camp Crame in Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Quezon City. Current ...

, 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, President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...

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. 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 oppositions to marshal support for her stance to back a U.S.-led campaign against terrorism, not only to implement a unanimous

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

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. In 2016, the President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

convened the National Security Council and discussed his major initiatives —the war on illegal drugs, peace talks with

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and Moro rebels and the territorial disputes with China. The 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 current Director-General and National Security Adviser is Sec.

Clarita Carlos Clarita Reyes Carlos (born June 24, 1946) is a Filipino political scientist and commentator, academic, and educator who last served as the National Security Adviser under the administration of President Bongbong Marcos from 2022 to 2023. As N ...

Functions

The NSC's function is to advise the President with respect to the integration of domestic, foreign, and military policies relating to national security. It is also said that it serves as the President's principal arm for coordinating these policies among various government departments and agencies in matters involving national security

Composition

As provided in the Administrative Code of 1987, the council is composed of the President as chairman, the Vice-President, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the Executive Secretary, the Secretary of National Defense, the Secretary of Justice, the Secretary of Labor and Employment, the Secretary of Local Governments, the National Security Director, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and such other government officials and private individuals as the President may appoint. However, the same law allows the President to reorganize the administrative structure of the Office of the President. In 1992, President

Fidel Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (, ; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR and Eddie Ramos, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military ...

reorganized the council to include the Secretaries of Science and Technology, Trade and Industry,

Finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

, and Environment and Natural Resources, and the Director-General of the

National Economic and Development Authority The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA; fil, Pambansang Pangasiwaan sa Kabuhayan at Pagpapaunlad) is an independent cabinet-level agency of the Philippine government responsible for economic development and planning. It is headed ...

. In 2001, President

amended Ramos' Executive Order and reconstituted the council to its present form.

Council

As of June 2022, the members are as follows:

Executive committee

The executive committee reviews national security and defense problems and formulates positions or solutions for consideration by the council. It determines the council's agenda and order of business and ensures that decisions of the council are clearly communicated to the agencies concerned. It advises the President on the implementation of decisions. As of June 2022, its members are:

References

External links

* {{Domestic national intelligence agencies Government agencies under the Office of the President of the Philippines Military of the Philippines

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Government agencies established in 1950