The National Security Council is the government body formed to advise the President “on matters of national defense and shall make recommendations on such other subjects as the President may from time to time submit for study and consideration.”
When it was formed by then-President Elpidio Quirino on July 1, 1950, with his Executive Order No. 330, the NSC was composed of the following officials:
- President,
- the VicePresident,
- the President of the Senate,
- the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
- the Head of each Executive Department,
- the Chairman of the Committee on the Army, Navy, and Military Pensions of the Senate,
- the Chairman of the National Defense Committee of the House of Representatives,
- the Commanding General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and
- the Chairman of the Philippine Veterans Board.
Quirino’s creation of the NSC superseded then-President Manuel Roxas’ Executive Order No. 40 which formed in 1947 the Council of National Defense.
Even earlier in the century during the Commonwealth, then-President Manuel Quezon’s Executive Order No. 3 in 1935 created the National Defense Council and appointed US General Douglas MacArthur military adviser.
The composition of the NSC has since gone through several changes with President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.’s Executive Order No. 13 in 1966 and Executive Order No. 396 in 1972, President Corazon Aquino’s Executive Order No. 115 in 1986, and Executive Order No. 292 in 1987, President Fidel V. Ramos’ Executive Order No. 33 in 1992, and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Executive Order No. 34 in 2001.
On Friday, Malacañang announced President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s Executive Order No. 81, which again reorganized the NSC.
The latest reorganization removed from the council’s composition the Vice President and the country’s former Presidents.
The NSC is considered the principal advisory body on the proper coordination and integration of plans and policies affecting the nation’s security.
It provides technical support to the NSC Proper and policy advice to the President when it comes to the country’s security.
The NSC also gives guidance and direction to the operations of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) as well as to the Intelligence Community.
The NSC aims to be responsive to the changing challenges and opportunities, within and outside the country.
National Security Adviser and NSC Director General Eduardo Año, Marcos’ latest issuance was necessary to enhance the formulation of policies affecting national security.
“The NSC is, first and foremost, an advisory body to the President, and its composition is always subject to the authority of the President,” he said.
The NSC director general pointed out that the Administrative Code of 1987 vests the President with the continuing authority to reorganize the administrative structure of the Office of the President of which the NSC is a part.
He added that Section 17, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution vests in the President the power of control over all executive departments, bureaus, and offices.
Año said previous presidents have also reorganized the composition of
He said the purpose of the reorganization was to enhance the formulation of policies relating to national security so that actions and decisions thereon by the Presidents rest on sound advice and accurate information.
It is also premised on the need for timely and coherent action to address current and emerging threats to national security, Año added. —NB, GMA Integrated News
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