Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of the NSTP (R.A. No. 9163)

December 28, 2006

REVISED IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM (NSTP)

Pursuant to Section 12 of Republic Act No. 9163 otherwise known as the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Department of National Defense (DND), in consultation with concerned government agencies, the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines (COCOPEA), Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and recognized student organizations, hereby jointly issue, adapt and promulgate the following implementing rules and regulations to implement the provisions of the Act.

RULE I

Guiding Principles

SECTION 1. Guiding Principle.— While it is 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 and promote the general welfare of the State, and in fulfillment thereof, the government may require each citizen to render personal military or civil service.

SECTION 2. Role of the Youth.—

a. In recognition of the vital role of the youth in nation-building, the State shall promote civic consciousness among them and shall develop their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being. It shall inculcate the ideals of patriotism, nationalism, and advance their involvement in public and civic affairs.

b. As the most valuable resource of the nation, they shall be motivated, trained, organized and involved in military, literacy, civic welfare programs and other similar endeavors in the service of the nation.

RULE II

Definition of Terms

SECTION 3. As used in this Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR),the following terms shall mean:

a. "National Service Training Program" (NSTP) — refers to the 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 the three (3) Program components, specifically designed to enhance the youth's active contribution to the general welfare;

b. "Reserve Officers' Training Corps" (ROTC) — refers to the Program component, 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; TAScID

c. "Literacy Training Service" (LTS) — refers to the Program component designed to train the students to teach literacy and numeracy skills to school children, out-of-school youths and other segments of society in need of their services;

d. "Civic Welfare Training Service" (CWTS) — refers to the Program component 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 and other social welfare services;

e. "Program Component" — refers to the service components of NSTP as defined herein;

f. "Clustering" — refers to the grouping of students enrolled to different schools and taking up the same NSTP component into one (1) group under the management and supervision of a designated school;

g. "Cross Enrollment" — refers to a system of enrollment where a student is officially enrolled in an academic program of an origin school but is allowed to enroll in the NSTP component of another accepting school; and

h. "Non-Government Organization" (NGO) — refers to any private organization duly accredited by CHED or recognized by TESDA.

RULE III

Program Implementation

SECTION 4. Coverage.—

a. All incoming first year students, male and female, starting School Year (SY) 2002-2003, enrolled in any baccalaureate and in at least two (2)-year technical-vocational or associate courses, are required to complete one (1) NSTP component of their choice, as a graduation requirement.

The above provision, however, does not cover the following:

a.1. Students who finished or graduated from a baccalaureate degree or two year technical-vocational or associate course and pursuing or enrolled in another or additional baccalaureate degree or two-year technical-vocational or associate course in SY 2003-2004, and;

a.2. Students who completed any of the three NSTP components but considered freshmen to the course where they transferred or shifted.

a.3. Foreign students or aliens

b. All higher and technical-vocational education institutions must offer at least one (1) of the NSTP components.

c. State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) shall offer the ROTC component and at least one (1) other NSTP component.

d. The Philippine Military Academy (PMA),Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA),and Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) are exempted from the NSTP in view of the special character of these institutions. Other State Universities and Colleges of similar nature will be exempted subject to approval of the Department of National Defense.

e. Private higher and technical-vocational education institutions with at least 350 student cadets, may offer the ROTC component and consequently establish/maintain a Department of Military Science and Tactics (DMST),subject to the existing rules and regulations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

SECTION 5. Program Components.—

a. The NSTP shall have the following components which the students can choose from as defined in Rule II, Section 3 hereof: The Reserve Officers Training Corps, Literacy Training Service (LTS),and Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS).

b. All program components, the ROTC in particular shall give emphasis on citizenship training and shall instill patriotism, moral virtues, respect for the rights of civilians and adherence to the Constitution. IAEcCT

c. The CHED, TESDA in consultation with the DND, and PASUC, COCOPEA and other concerned government agencies, may design and implement such other non-military training components as may be necessary in consonance with the provisions of R.A. 9163.

d. Within thirty (30) days from the approval of this revised IRR, the CHED, TESDA, and the DND shall jointly issue the minimum standards for the three (3) NSTP components which shall form part of these guidelines.

SECTION 6. Duration and Equivalent Course Unit.—

a. Each of the aforementioned NSTP components shall be undertaken for an academic period of two (2) semesters. It shall be credited for three (3) units per semester, for fifty-four (54) to ninety (90) training hours per semester.

b. A One (1) Summer Program (OSP) in lieu of the two (2) semester program may be designed, formulated and adopted by the DND, CHED and TESDA, subject to the capability of the school and the AFP to handle the same.

c. Earned NSTP units shall not be included in the computation of Grade Point Average (GPA) grades of college graduating students.

SECTION 7. Clustering and Cross-Enrollment.—

a. Clustering of students from different education institutions during semestral or summer periods may be done for any of the NSTP component, taking into account logistics, branch of service and geographical locations. The host school shall be responsible in managing the Program.

b. Schools that do not meet the required number of students to maintain the optional ROTC and any of the NSTP components, or do not offer the component chosen by the students, shall allow their students to cross-enroll to other schools, irrespective of whether such school is under CHED or TESDA; and in the case of students taking the ROTC component, irrespective of whether the two semesters shall be taken from different schools whose ROTC are administered/managed by different branches of service of the AFP.

c. Students intending to cross-enroll shall be subject to the existing rules and regulations of the school of origin and the accepting school.

SECTION 8. Monitoring and Evaluation.—

A. Management

1. The school authorities shall exercise academic and administrative supervision over the design, formulation, adoption and implementation of the different NSTP components in their respective schools.

2. There should be an NSTP Office in each school or college/university headed by an NSTP Director or its equivalent position responsible for the implementation of the Program. Each of the NSTP components is considered a distinct and/or separate unit under the NSTP office, and the head of the unit shall report directly to the NSTP Director or its equivalent position.

3. A functional chart of the NSTP Office shall be structured based on the capability of the institution to sustain the component program being offered based on the number of enrollees.

4. In the case of ROTC, the school authorities and DND, subject to the policies, regulations and programs of DND on the military component of the training, shall exercise joint supervision over its implementation.

5. Schools which have contracted CHED-accredited or TESDA-recognized NGOs to formulate and administer training modules for any of the NSTP components shall jointly exercise such academic and administrative supervision with those NGOs. Within forty-five (45) days from approval and issuance of this IRR, the CHED, TESDA and DND shall issue the necessary guidelines for the accreditation of non-government organizations (NGOs) and training modules to be utilized by these NGOs. cHATSI

B. Monitoring

1. CHED Regional Offices, TESDA Provincial/District Offices and DNDAFP (through the Major Service Reserve Commands),shall oversee and monitor the implementation of the NSTP under their respective jurisdiction, to determine if the trainings conducted are in consonance with the ACT. These Sub-offices shall submit periodic reports to the Central Offices of CHED, TESDA and DND.

2. CHED deputized officials shall coordinate and conduct spot visits to actual NSTP activities.

3. At the end of every school year the Higher Education Institution shall submit an Annual Report to the CHED Regional Office copy furnished the Office of Student Services in electronic template, indicating the following:

3.1 names who finished under each NSTP component,

3.2 the programs, projects and activities undertaken with pictorials and documentation as much as possible, and

3.3 financial statements on the funds collected, allocated and utilized.

The annual report on NSTP by the university or college shall be made available to faculty, students and the general public in the NSTP Office.

In regions with universities and colleges having two or more campuses, the university concerned shall consolidate the report before submission to CHED Regional Offices.

4. In cases of violations of guidelines, warnings and/or sanctions may be imposed to schools and accredited NGOs that disregarded or grossly violated the provisions of this implementing rules and regulations.

RULE IV

Fees and Incentives

SECTION 9. Fees.—

a. No fees shall be collected for any of the NSTP components except basic tuition which should not be more than fifty (50%) percent of the charges of the school per academic unit. NSTP tuition collected shall constitute a Trust Fund, which shall be exclusively used for the operation of the Program.

b. NSTP funds derived from NSTP-related operations shall serve as augmentation to sustain un-programmed activities of NSTP.

c. The unexpected fund balance shall be carried over to the next semester; provided, however, NSTP funds shall not be converted into savings at the expense of the proper implementation of the program.

d. Subsidies from the government, any legal agency or institution appropriated for NSTP shall be included in the preparation of the program of expenditure and report on the utilization of funds.

e. Expenditures/disbursements shall be subjected to period audits by the proper school authorities and concerned NSTP officers;

f. The NSTP Director or its equivalent shall submit a comprehensive report on the utilization of the NSTP Funds by program component to the school head, two weeks after the end of every semester.

g. Rental space of school and other similar expenses shall not be charged to NSTP.

SECTION 10. Incentive, Insurance and Protection.—

A. Incentives

1. A program of assistance/incentives for ROTC students shall be provided and administered by DND, in accordance with existing laws and regulations and subject to the availability of funds. DCcSHE

2. A Special Scholarship Program and other forms of assistance and incentives for qualified NSTP students shall be administered by CHED and TESDA, with funds for the purpose to be included in the annual regular appropriations of the two agencies, subject to the availability of funds.

3. The college or university may provide scholarship and other forms of assistance and incentives to qualified and deserving NSTP students, the funding of which shall come from available NSTP funds of the school.

4. Personnel involved in the NSTP shall be provided honorarium and other incentives based on the standard policy set forth by the HEIs.

B. Insurance and Protection.

1. School authorities concerned, CHED and TESDA shall ensure that health and accident group insurances are provided for students enrolled in any of the NSTP components.

2. Schools that already provide health and accident group insurance and collect the necessary fees for the purpose from their students as of the effectivity of this Rules, are deemed to have complied with this requirement.

RULE V

Organization of NSTP Graduates

SECTION 11. Organization of NSTP Graduates.—

a. Graduates of the non-ROTC components of the NSTP shall belong to the National Service Reserve Corps (NSPC) and could be tapped by the State for literacy and civic welfare activities, especially in times of calamities through the joint efforts of DND, CHED and TESDA, in coordination with DILG, DSWD and other concerned agencies/associations.

b. The CHED, TESDA and DND, in consultation with other concerned government and non-government agencies, shall issue the necessary guidelines for the establishment, organization, maintenance and utilization of the National Service Reserve Corps.

c. Graduates of the ROTC program shall form part of the Citizen Armed Force pursuant to RA 7077, subject to the requirements of DND.

RULE VI

Miscellaneous Provisions

SECTION 12. Certificate of Completion.— Certificate of Completion with corresponding serial number issued by CHED, TESDA or DND, shall be awarded to students who have successfully complied with the program requirements.

SECTION 13. Information Dissemination.— The CHED, TESDA and DND shall provide information on these Act and IRR to all concerned public through different modes of disseminating information.

SECTION 14. Amendatory Clause.—

a. Section 35 of Commonwealth Act No. 1, Executive Order No. 207 of 1939, Section 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 the Act are hereby deemed amended and modified accordingly.

b. This Rules may be amended, modified, or replaced jointly by CHED, TESDA and DND, in consultation with PASUC, COCOPEA, NGOs and recognized student organizations.

SECTION 15. Separability Clause.— If any section or provisions of this IRR shall be declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 16. Effectivity.— This rules shall take effect 15 days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation and shall remain in force and effect until revoked or amended. SDHacT

Adopted and Issued on 28th day of December 2006.

FOR THE SECRETARY:

(SGD.) ANTONIO C. SANTOSUndersecretary for National Defense

(SGD.) CARLITO S. PUNO, DPAChairman, CHED

(SGD.) Sec. AUGUSTO BOBOY SYJUCODirector General, TESDA

Published in The Manila Times on July 9, 2007.