The Department of National Defense (DND; fil, Kagawaran ng Tanggulang Pambansa, ''KTP'') is the executive department of the

Philippine government The Government of the Philippines ( fil, Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and d ...

responsible for guarding against external and internal threats to peace and security in the country. The Department of National Defense exercises executive supervision over the

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The ...

(AFP), the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), the

National Defense College of the Philippines The National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) ( fil, Dalubhasaan ng Tanggulang Pambansa ng Pilipinas) is an educational, training, and research agency of the Philippine government located inside Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo, Quezon ...

(NDCP), the Government Arsenal (GA), and

Veterans Memorial Medical Center The Veterans Memorial Medical Center (formerly known as Veterans Memorial Hospital) was established in 1955 with full US Government assistance under the US Veterans Administration to provide quality hospitalization, medical care and treatment t ...

(VMMC). It is also responsible for disaster preparation and management in the country. It is headed by the Secretary of National Defense, who is a member of the President's cabinet. The current OIC of the National Defense of the Philippines is Jose Faustino Jr. as of June 30, 2022.

History

The Department of National Defense or DND was formally organised on November 1, 1939, pursuant to ''Executive Order No. 230'' of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Manuel L. Quezon to implement ''Commonwealth Act No. 1'' or the ''National Defense Act of 1935'' passed by the National Assembly on December 31, 1935, and ''Commonwealth Act No. 340'' creating the department. Throughout its existence, the department's functions are to enforce the law and to curb criminality and to guarantee the external and internal security of the country. As such, the DND deals also with criminal elements because the

Philippine Constabulary The Philippine Constabulary (PC; tl, Hukbóng Pamayapà ng Pilipinas, ''HPP''; es, Policía de Filipinas, ''PF'') was a gendarmerie-type police force of the Philippines from 1901 to 1991, and the predecessor to the Philippine National Po ...

or PC, then a major branch of the Armed Forces that has responsibility in enforcing the law and maintaining peace and order was under its supervision, aside from other AFP major services (

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

) which are busy dealing with fighting insurgents like the

Communists 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 Muslim secessionists. During

Martial Law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) became the most powerful ministry in the executive branch under the leadership of then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, who was then named martial law overseer by then President Ferdinand Marcos, the military commander-in-chief. Also during Martial Law, Marcos, who assumed dictatorial powers issued a decree creating the

National Intelligence and Security Authority The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) is the primary intelligence gathering and analysis arm of the Government of the Philippines in charge of carrying out overt, covert, and clandestine intelligence activities. The NICA cooper ...

or NISA, to be the country's national intelligence agency with broad powers over intelligence and national security. In effect, NISA also served as the secret police force of Marcos, and now became the most powerful agency, and the MND's status dwindled. The NISA was headed by General

Fabian Ver Fabian Crisologo Ver (born Fabian Maria Trinidad Juan Cirilo Crisologo y Ver; 20 January 1920 – 21 November 1998) was a Filipino military officer who served as the Commanding Officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under President Ferd ...

, Marcos' most trusted man, who was also at that time, the commander of the then Presidential Security Command and later, was named to be the concurrent staff of the Armed Forces, thus becoming the most powerful military officer. At the end of Marcos regime on 1986, the DND continued to exercise the powers to deal with criminality and internal plus external defense of the country until 1991 when then President Corazon Aquino signed a law passing the functions to enforce all criminal laws from DND to the

Department of the Interior and Local Government The Department of the Interior and Local Government ( fil, Kagawaran ng Interyor at Pamahalaang Lokal), abbreviated as DILG, is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for promoting peace and order, ensuring public saf ...

or DILG. Both departments, however, shared the responsibility of guaranteeing internal security.

List of the Secretaries of the Department of National Defense

Organizational structure

The department is headed by the Secretary of National Defense, with the following five undersecretaries and assistant secretaries. *Undersecretary for National Defense/Senior Undersecretary *Undersecretary for Acquisition and Resource Management *Undersecretary for Civil, Veterans and Reserve Affairs *Undersecretary for Strategic Assessment and Planning *Undersecretary for Capability Assessment and Development *Assistant Secretary for Plans and Programs *Assistant Secretary for Human Resource *Assistant Secretary for Strategic Assessment and International Affairs *Assistant Secretary for Financial Management *Assistant Secretary for Logistics, Acquisitions and Self-Reliant Defense Posture *Assistant Secretary for Real Estate and Installations

Attached agencies

* Government Arsenal *

* National Security Council * Office of Civil Defense * Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation * Philippine Veterans Affairs Office

Statistics

Budget

Citations

References

* *

External links

*
Armed Forces of the Philippines Website

History of the Department of National Defense
{{DEFAULTSORT:Department Of National Defense (Philippines) Philippines, National Defense

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 ...

Defense