THE first SONA of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. added to the legislative agenda of the 19th Congress the need to amend the National Defense Act of 1935 and change the military structure of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to one that is "more responsive to the current and future non-conventional security threats to the country's territorial integrity and national sovereignty." Hence, various bills have been filed in the 19th Congress calling for the amendment of the National Defense Act, foremost of which is for the chain of command (COC) to explicitly include the Secretary of Defense, not just a mere alter ego and push for a self-reliant defense posture revitalization. In the Senate, there are four amendatory bills and four focusing on revitalization, while in the House of Representatives, a total of 29 bills are pending in standing committees.
The Department of National Defense (DND) was formally organized on Nov. 1, 1939, via Executive Order 230 by President Manuel L. Quezon to implement Commonwealth Act (CA) 1, or the National Defense Act of 1935 enacted by the National Assembly on Dec. 31, 1935. Commonwealth Act 340 created the department. Section 2 (d) of the Act states, "The civil authority shall always be supreme. The President of the Philippines, as the commander in chief of all military forces, shall be responsible that mobilization measures are prepared at all times."
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