Republic of the Philippines

Congress of the Philippines

Metro Manila

Twelfth Congress

First Regular Session

Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-third day of July, two thousand
one.

[REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9163]

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM (NSTP)

FOR TERTIARY LEVEL STUDENTS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC
ACT NO. 7077 AND PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1706, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in

Congress assembled.

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the “National Service Training
Program (NSTP) Act of 2001”.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby affirmed the prime duty of the government
to serve and protect its citizens, In turn, it shall be the responsibility of all citizens to
defend the security of the State and in fulfillment thereof, the government may require
each citizen to render personal, military or civil service.

Recognizing the youth’s vital role in nation-building, the State shall promote civic
consciousness among the youth and shall develop their physical, moral, spiritual,
intellectual and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism, nationalism,
and advance their involvement in public and civic affairs.

In pursuit of these goals, the youth, the most valuable resource of the nation, shall be
motivated, trained, organized and mobilized in military training, literacy, civic welfare
and other similar endeavors in the service of the nation.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following are hereby
defined as follows:

(a) “National Service Training Program (NSTP)” is a program aimed at enhancing civic
consciousness and defense preparedness in the youth by developing the ethics of
service and patriotism while undergoing training in any of its three (3) program
components. Its various components are specially designed to enhance the youth’s
active contribution to the general welfare.
(b) “Reserve-Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC)” is a program institutionalized under
Sections 38 and 39 of Republic Act No. 7077 designed to provide military training to
tertiary level students in order to motivate, train, organize and mobilize them for national
defense preparedness.

(c) “Literacy Training Service” is a program designed to train students to become

teachers of literacy and numeracy skills to school children, out of school youth, and
other segments of society in need of their service.

(d) “Civic Welfare Training Service” refers to programs or activities contributory to the
general welfare and the betterment of life for the members of the community or the
enhancement of its facilities, especially those devoted to improving health, education,
environment, entrepreneurship, safety, recreation and morals of the citizenry.

(e) “Program component” shall refer to the service components of the NSTP as
enumerated on Section 4 of this Act.

SEC. 4. Establishment of the National Service Training Program. — There is hereby

established a National Service Training Program (NSTP), which shall form part of the
curricula of all baccalaureate degree courses and of at least two (2)-year technical-
vocational courses and is a requisite for graduation, consisting of the following service
components:

(1) The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), which is hereby made optional and
voluntary upon the effectivity of this Act;

(2) The Literacy Training Service; and

(3) The Civil Welfare Training Service.

The ROTC under the NSTP shall instill patriotism, moral virtues, respect for rights of
civilians, and adherence to the Constitution, among others. Citizenship training shall be
given emphasis in all three (3) program components.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA), in consultation with the Department of National
Defense (DND), Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC),
Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines
(COCOPEA) and other concerned government agencies, may design and implement
such other program components as may be necessary in consonance with the
provisions of this Act.

SEC. 5. Coverage. — Students, male and female, of any baccalaureate degree course
or at least two (2)-year technical-vocational courses in public and private educational
institutions shall be required to complete one (1) of the NSTP components as requisite
for graduation.
SEC. 6. Duration and Equivalent Course Unit. — Each of the aforementioned NSTP
program components shall be undertaken for an academic period of two (2) semesters.

In lieu of the two (2)-semester program for any of the components of the NSTP, a one
(1) summer program may be designed, formulated and adopted by the DND, CHED and
TESDA.

SEC. 7. NSTP Offering in Higher and Technical-Vocational Educational Institutions. —

All higher and technical-vocational institutions, public and private, must offer at least
one of the program components: Provided, That State universities and colleges shall
offer the ROTC component and at least one other component as provided herein:
Provided, further, That private higher and technical-vocational education institutions
may also offer the ROTC if they have at least three hundred and fifty (350) cadet
students.

In offering the NSTP whether during the semestral or summer periods, clustering of
affected students from different educational institutions may be done, taking into
account logistics, branch of service and geographical considerations. Schools that do
not meet the required number of students to maintain the optional ROTC and any of the
NSTP components shall allow their students to cross-enroll to other schools irrespective
of whether or not the NSTP components in said schools are being administered by the
same or another branch of service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), CHED
and TESDA to which schools are identified.

SEC. 8. Fees and Incentives. — Higher and technical-vocational institutions shall not
collect any fee for any of the NSTP components except basic institution fees, which
shall not be more than fifty percent (50%) of what is currently charged by schools per
unit.

In the case of the ROTC, the DND shall formulate and adopt a program of assistance
and/or incentive to those students who will take the said component.

The school authorizes concerned, the CHED and TESDA shall ensure that group
insurance for health and accident shall be provided for students enrolled in any of the
NSTP components.

SEC. 9. Scholarships. — There is hereby created a Special Scholarship Program for

qualified students taking the NSTP which shall be administered by the CHED and
TESDA. Funds for this purpose shall be included in the annual regular appropriations of
the CHED and TESDA.

SEC. 10. Management of the NSTP Components. — The school authorities shall

exercise academic and administrative supervision over the design, formulation, and
adoption and implementation of the different NSTP components in their respective
schools: Provided, That in case a CHED- or TESDA-accredited non-government
organization (NGO) has been contracted to formulate and administer a training module
for any of the NSTP components, such academic and administrative supervision shall
be exercised jointly with that accredited NGO: Provided, further, That such training
module shall be accredited by the CHED and TESDA.

The CHED and TESDA regional offices shall oversee and monitor the implementation of
the NSTP under their jurisdiction to determine if the trainings are being conducted in
consonance with the objectives of this Act. Periodic reports shall be submitted to the
CHED, TESDA and DND in this regard.

SEC. 11. Creation of the National Service Reserve Corps. — There is hereby created a
National Service Reserve Corps, to be composed of the graduates of the non-ROTC
components. Members of this Corps may be tapped by the State for literacy and civic
welfare activities through the joint effort of the DND, CHED and TESDA.

Graduates of the ROTC shall form part of the Citizens’ Armed Force, pursuant to
Republic Act No. 7077.

SEC. 12. Implementing Rules. — The DND, CHED and TESDA shall have the joint
responsibility for the adoption of the implementing rules of this Act within sixty (60) days
from the approval of this Act.

These three (3) agencies shall consult with other concerned government agencies, the
PASUC and COCOPEA, NGOs and recognized student organizations in drafting the
implementing rules.

The implementing rules shall include the guidelines for the adoption of the appropriate
curriculum for each of the NSTP components as well as for the accreditation of the
same.

SEC. 13. Transitory Provisions. — Students who have yet to complete the Basic ROTC,
except those falling under Section 14 of this Act, may either continue in the program
component they are currently enrolled or shift to any of the other program components
of their choice: Provided, That in case he shifts to another program component, the
Basic ROTC courses he has completed shall be counted for the purpose of completing
the NSTP requirement: Provided, further, That once he has shifted to another program
component, he shall complete the NSTP in that component.

SEC. 14. Suspension of ROTC Requirement. — The completion of ROTC training as

requisite for graduation is hereby set aside for those students who despite completing
all their academic units as of the effectivity of this Act have not been allowed to
graduate.

SEC. 15. Separability Clause. — If any section or provision of this Act shall be declared
unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions not affected thereby shall
remain in full force and effect.
SEC. 16. Amendatory Clause. — Section 35 of Commonwealth Act No. 1, Executive
Order No. 207 of 1939, Sections 2 and 3 of Presidential Decree No. 1706, and Sections
38 and 39 of Republic Act No. 7077, as well as all laws, decrees, orders, rules and
regulations and other issuances inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
deemed amended and modified accordingly.

SEC. 17. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect (15) days after its publication in two (2)
newspapers of national circulation, but the implementation of this Act commence in the
school year of 2002-2003.

Approved,

(Sgd.) FRANKLIN M. DRILON (Sgd.) JOSE DE VE

President of the Senate Speaker of the
of Represent

This Act which is a consolidation of H.B. No. 3593 and S.B. No. 1824 was finally passed
by the Senate and the House of Representatives on December 19, 2001.

(Sgd.) OSCAR G. YABES (Sgd.) ROBERTO P.

Secretary of the Senate Secretary Ge
House of Repres

Approved: JAN 23 2002

(Sgd.) GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO

President of the Philippines
The National Service Reserve Corps, also referred to by the acronym NSRC (Filipino: Panlaáng
Hukbo ng Pambansang Paglilingkod), is a unit composed of graduates of the Civic Welfare Training
Service (CWTS) and Literacy Training Service (LTS) components of the National Service Training
Program, a civic education and defense preparedness program in the Philippines. Members of this
corps may be tapped by the state for literacy and civic welfare activities. [2] In 2010 the NSRC was
mandated to be accredited and mobilized for the delivery of disaster risk reduction programs and
activities.

The NSRC was created by virtue of Republic Act 9163, known as the National Service Training
Program or NSTP Act of 2001. The NSTP Act mandated that all graduates of the non-ROTC
(Reserve Officers' Training Corps) component of the NSTP, namely CWTS and LTS, shall constitute
the National Service Reserve Corps. ROTC graduates on the other hand, shall become reservists of
the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The NSTP Law made ROTC a non-compulsory training
component at the tertiary level of education. Furthermore, it made NSTP mandatory for all students
in all higher education institutions (HEIs) and technical-vocational educational training institutions
(TVETs) for courses of two or more years. Students have the freedom to choose among the three
NSTP components.[2]
Since the enactment of the NSTP Law in 2001 until 2011 - a period of 10 years, the NSRC was
never implemented despite the issuance of a joint memorandum from the Department of National
Defense, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA) for its implementation.[citation needed] In May 2010, a new law was enacted
- RA 10121. Known as the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, this law
mandated that the National Service Reserve Corps be accredited and mobilized for the delivery
of disaster risk reduction programs and activities.[3]

The NSRC units are classified into two categories: [4]

 Community-Based NSRC Reservists Units (CBNRUs). These are units organized at

the barangay, municipal, city and provincial level. Graduates of the CWTS and LTS components
of NSTP who are residents of these respective localities constitute the membership of the
CBNRUs.
 School-Based NSRC Reservists Units (SBNRUs). These units are organized by higher
education institutions under CHED and technical-vocational education and training institutions
under TESDA. Its membership is composed of graduates of the CWTS and LTS who are still
happen to be enrolled in the said schools.
 1 Introduction to the importance of self-awareness

In our first section, we discussed important background information on what makes up

one’s personality and why personality defects are most likely to reduce one’s capacity to
grow and develop as human beings. Personality defects are one of the main reasons
why we are unhappy. If due to one’s destiny one has to experience pain, then
personality defects are one of the main mediums through which we experience this
unhappiness. More importantly for those who are genuinely seeking spiritual growth,
personality defects can severely restrict their capacity to grow regardless of which
spiritual path they may follow. Once an individual experiences better mental health and
stability (i.e., with less personality defects) it is easier for him or her to make rapid
spiritual progress and achieve an ideal personality by practising Spirituality.

2 What is self-awareness?

Anyone who is dedicated to self-improvement, personal development or the higher goal

of spiritual growth needs to actively seek to understand oneself. This is because only
when one understands where one lacks, can he or she focus their efforts on what to
improve.

Definition of self-awareness:

1. Self-awareness is the capacity that a person has to introspect.

2. It includes gaining an understanding of and insight into one’s strengths, qualities,
weaknesses, defects, ideas, thoughts, beliefs, ideals, responses, reactions, attitude,
emotions and motivations.
3. Thus introspection also includes assessing how one is perceived by others and
4. How others are impacted based on one’s behaviour, responses and conduct.

Psychologists often break self-awareness down into two different types, either public or
private.

1. Public Self-Awareness: This type emerges when people are aware of how they
appear to others. Public self-awareness often emerges in situations when people are at
the centre of attention, such as when giving a presentation or talking to a group of
friends. This type of self-awareness often compels people to adhere to social norms.
When we are aware that we are being watched and evaluated, we often try to behave in
ways that are socially acceptable and desirable. In short we display our best behaviour,
 which may not be reflective of our true personality. Public self-awareness can also lead
to ‘evaluation anxiety’ in which people become distressed, anxious, or worried about
how they are perceived by others.
2. Private Self-Awareness: This type happens when people become aware of
some aspects of themselves, but only in a private way. For example, seeing your face in
the mirror is a type of private self-awareness. Feeling your stomach lurch when you
realize you forgot to study for an important test or feeling your heart flutter when you
see someone you are attracted to are also good examples of private self-awareness.
Close family members and friends are privy to some aspects of our private self as we let
our guard down in front of them. Hence, they become invaluable aides in helping us
assess ourselves.

As we practice becoming more aware of ourselves and how we are perceived by others,
we learn many more shades of our characteristics to a minute level. Hence we are in a
better position to overcome our personality defects and understand where our strengths
lie. In the following paragraphs, we will examine some of the ways one can increase
one’s self-awareness.
What Are They?
According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional, Learning
(CASEL), social-emotional learning (SEL) is “the process through which
children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve
positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain
positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”

Self-awareness and self-management are two of the five components that

make up CASEL’s model of SEL.

Self-Awareness is simply the ability to be aware of one’s inner life–one’s

emotions, thoughts, behaviors, values, preferences, goals, strengths,
challenges, attitudes, mindsets, and so forth– and how these elements impact
behavior and choices.

A student who is self-aware may notice her fearful emotional response as she
is about to take a test. She may feel her heart beat faster and her stomach
clench, making her thoughts race as she worries about failing the test. To get
out of the test, she considers telling her teacher that she feels sick, but in the
end, she recognizes that this behavior is a result of her emotions and thoughts
running amok, and she accepts that these reactions can occur when she
experiences anxiety.

Skills that develop self-awareness include:

 Labeling and recognizing one’s emotions

 Identifying what triggers own emotions
 Analyzing emotions and how they affect others
  Understanding the relationship between one’s emotions,
thoughts, and behaviors
 Recognizing one’s needs, values, judgments, and biases
 Identifying personal strengths and areas for growth
 Practicing self-compassion
 Cultivating self-confidence, positive self-regard, a “growth”
mindset, and optimism

Self-management is the ability to navigate and shift in a healthy way one’s

thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in order to make decisions and reach goals
that benefit oneself and others.

A new sixth grader who is anxious about starting middle school remembers
learning from her fifth grade teacher that when she is feeling scared, she can
change how she feels by thinking differently about the situation. So, instead of
dreading her new school, this student decides to view it as an adventure—one
that might bring her new friends, wonderful teachers, and exciting
opportunities.

Self-management skills include:

 Regulating and expressing one’s emotions thoughtfully

 Demonstrating perseverance and resilience to overcome
obstacles
 Sustaining healthy boundaries
 Applying strategies to reduce personal and interpersonal stress
 Setting and monitoring short-term and long-term goals
 Advocating for oneself and one’s needs
 Maintaining attention
 Using feedback constructively

Ultimately, self-awareness and self-management are closely linked. For

example, being able to stop and calm down when one is upset (self-
management), requires skills like recognizing and labeling the emotions and
considering how they might be affecting one’s behavior choices (self-
awareness).
 Self-management Sequence – 5 Steps To Success
Step 1 – Programming
Our brain works as a computer. Our belief system is created and controlled entirely by
our programming. It is necessary for you to understand where you are at the moment,
as most of us have been listening to a lot of “You can’ts” in our childhood and thus it is
hard for us to imagine any kind of success taking place in our lives. This needs to
change. You need to re-programme your subconscious mind from “I don’t think I can” to
“What can stop me other than myself?” This takes regular maintenance of your
thoughts, which is described in detail in our recent posts. In short, you need to
change the way you talk to yourself in order to make your brain understand that you
want to do things differently, and you need to change your environment  in order to
ensure that what you’re consuming is helping you in the re-programming phase. To
make things clearer, imagine a very simple scenario we all understand. Our brains work
like computers – imagine the search tab in YouTube. When you search a specific song
loads of times, it will then start appearing at the top of the previously searched videos
(which appears before you start typing). However, if you search for a song only once or
twice, this song will be somewhere at the bottom of that list (or not at all). This is how
computers work, but it is also how our brains work. The more often you think something,
the more it is likely to come up again. This works for negative thoughts as well.

Step 2 – Beliefs
“Belief” does not require that something is the way we believe it is. It only requires us to
believe that it is. Your belief system is ultimately set up by your programming. If you’ve
been told that you can’t become an astronaut when you were young numerous times,
you will believe that it is impossible for you now. Thus it follows that in order to change
your beliefs, you need to change your brain programming. Beliefs are the constants in
our minds. They are hard to establish, but also hard to get rid off. Unfortunately, like I
said above, most of us need to do the latter. Once you reach the stage where you truly
believe (for a longer period of time without any doubts) that you can succeed, that you
can apply for that NASA recruitment programme, you can move to the next step. 

Step 3 – Attitude
Attitude is the perspective from which we see our lives. It is also created, controlled or
influenced by our beliefs. When you believe you can become an astronaut, your attitude
towards your preparations and progress towards that specific goal changes. You will be
able to see the shift from “Why even bother” to “Let me figure out a way to make this
happen” and even to “I’m doing this!” Be positive – is one of the most frequent tips
people hear. But most answers to that usually involve something like “It isn’t as simple
as that” or “You can’t just flip a switch and become positive thinking.” And you know
what? That is completely right. You can’t do it, unless you have already completed the
first two steps!

Step 4 – Feelings
Every action we take is first filtered through our feelings. How we feel about something
will always determine or affect what we do and how well we do it. It is inevitable. You
need to learn to love the process. How do you do that? Through your attitude. When
you really learn to enjoy growing, seeing the challenges and overcoming them, you will
finally stop doubting everything. You will stop holding yourself back, you will be able to
leave your comfort zone, which is the only reason you still are where you are. 

Step 5 – Behavior
Your actions need to work for you, not against you. Behavior is what we do, but
also what we don’t do. Make sure you understand that inaction is also a behavior you
can control. Behavior is the final step of the sequence. Like everyone says, being all
ready and knowledgable about success is all nice and well, but action is the
differentiator. No action, no behavior leads to no results. However, you can not skip the
first four steps if you want to have sustainable success. You can do something unusual,
you can take action without going through the sequence, but then there are only 2 ways
this can go. Either you end up giving up at some point after some time, or you will have
gone through the sequence subconsciously anyways.

There you go. You wanted the single most important advice out there? This is it. Make
decisions that will bring you closer to your goals, as opposed to making the decisions
that bring you further. AND follow this sequence. Nothing can stop you, if you do that.
So what exactly is self talk?  
Self talk is reprogramming your old, negative thoughts, with new, positive
thoughts.  This is not easy and it will take a conscious effort to make it happen.
There are five levels of self talk:

Level 1: Negative Acceptance

This is the lowest level of all.  This is where when you say something negative
about yourself, and you accept it/believe it to be true (You don’t want to be here).

Level 2: Recognition and Need to Change

You might use phrases such as, “I should..,” or “I need to..”  It’s nice that you are
recognizing the things you need to change or do, but you never really take action
(Almost, but not quite).

Level 3: Decision to Change

This is where you recognize the need to change, and actually do it.  You might use
phrases such as, “I never..,” or “I no longer..”  (This is the first step to better self
talk!)

Level 4: The Better You

This is the best kind of self talk.  This is where you can create a new picture of
yourself.  You may use phrases such as, “I am..”  This is a “Yes I can,” kind of
attitude.

Level 5: Universal Affirmation

This is Gandhi level. One with the world. (You’ll know when you get here.)

Now, you’ll want to unlearn levels 1 & 2, and program yourself to live in levels 3
& 4 where you can make some real changes and become a better person.  You can
use this in any aspect of your life, but in our case, we will use these tools as it
pertains to weightlifting.  
 

Applying Self Talk in Weightlifting

Tell yourself, “I no longer make mistakes in my warm-ups,” “I never miss anything
below 85%,”  “I am going to have a good session today,” “I am a good lifter.”  You
may end up missing lifts or have a bad day of training (it’s the nature of the sport),
but over time, if you tell yourself enough and program yourself to do well, you will
become better.

Challenge yourself to start using these positive affirmations, say it to yourself

everyday, but more importantly say it around others.  It may make you look weird,
but it will hold you accountable. Soon enough, your subconscious is going to make
these positive things happen in your training.  It will definitely take some time and
practice, but it will come.  

Start practicing now and let us know what changes you make in future! Be sure to
subscribe and follow, more to come on positivity and self talk!  Be sure
to subscribe and follow more to come on positivity and self talk!

- Coach Chris