National Defense College of the Philippines

The National Defense College of the Philippines was first conceived in 1957 when the military advisors of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) proposed the setting-up of a SEATO War College in the Philippines. There were legislative moves to pass a law creating the National Defense College of the Philippines. In the House of Representatives, Congressman Manuel A. Zosa filed the House Bill No. 1420 in 1970 proposing an “Act Creating the National Defense College of the Philippines and for other Purposes.” Also in the same year, then Congressman Ramon Bagatsing filed the House Bill No. 1447 proposing an “Act Creating the National Defense College of the Philippines, Providing an Academic Board, and for Other Purposes.” In the Senate, Senator Leonardo B. Perez filed the Senate Bill No. 597 proposing an “Act Creating the National Defense College of the Philippines and for other Purposes.” However, these legislative proposals did not reach third reading because President Ferdinand Marcos dissolved the Philippine Congress. President Marcos subsequently issued Presidential Decree No. 190 in 1973 to formally create the NDCP to "fulfill the need for an institution that will provide for continuing and intensive studies of the diversified problems related to national defense and security." NDCP was then placed under the Office of the Secretary of National Defense in 1974 by virtue of P.D. No. 452.