Commonwealth Act No. 1

Military service shall be obligatory for all citizens of the Philippines, and the methods and procedure for the classification, selection, examination, induction, training, and release of all citizens from their military obligations shall be as prescribed in Title III of this Act.

SEC. 4.

The registration of citizens for military service shall be a civil function carried out by the civil authorities under the supervision of the Provost Marshal General.

SEC. 5.

During a national mobilization the Government of the Philippines, acting through the appropriate governmental department, or by delegated authority, shall have the right to secure by mutual agreement or by requisition all such resources, tangible and intangible, and all such services and all other assets or possessions, public or private, as may be necessary for national defense.

SEC. 6.

There shall be a Council of National Defense which shall consist of the President, the Vice President, the head of each executive department, the Chief of Staff, and six other members to be designated by the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly, and a permanent secretary of the Council who shall be an officer of the Army. The Council shall advise with the President on all matters of national defense policy. It shall have a permanent staff which shall preserve a documentary record of the Council's deliberations.

SEC. 7.

The President of the Philippines shall be Chairman of the Council of National Defense.

SEC. 8.

The method of operation of the Council of National Defense, its detailed duties, and its rights to summon witnesses or consultants shall be fixed in executive orders to be issued by the President. Funds for its operation shall be provided in the appropriations for the Executive Department.

SEC. 9.

For the purpose of recruiting the national manpower, providing preparatory military training, executing the national mobilization plans, and supplying the needs of the armed forces in peace and war, the Philippines shall be divided into military districts which will be further subdivided into military provinces, as the President may direct.

SEC. 10.

In every military district a commissioned officer of the regular army shall be assigned as District Commander. He shall be provided with such assistants as the Chief of Staff may direct.

In time of peace, he shall be responsible, under the Chief of Staff, for the training, discipline, and tactical training of all units within his district, and for the preparation of defense plans; and in time of war, he shall be responsible, under the control of the Chief of Staff, for the defense of his district.

SEC. 11.

In every military province, a commissioned officer of the regular army shall be assigned as Provincial Commander. He shall supervise, under the District Commander, the execution of all recruitment laws and the laws and regulations governing the mobilization of persons and resources for national defense within the province. This supervision shall apply to the activities of the civil authorities charged with these duties, and for the purposes of this supervision, he shall be a member of the Provincial Governor's Staff, and shall be provided with such assistants as the Chief of Staff may direct.

SEC. 12.

Recruiting areas will as far as possible conform with political subdivisions of the Philippines.

SEC. 13.

Mobilization centers shall be Located in municipalities, townships and municipal districts according to their military population and the percentage of such population assigned to units of the reserve.

The Chief of Staff shall determine the location and type of mobilization centers to be provided, and the Provincial Commander shall be responsible for the operation of these mobilization centers at all times.

SEC. 14.

A National Mobilization shall be decreed by the President of the Philippines on approval of the National Assembly.

SEC. 15.

Whenever the safety of the Philippines is endangered, the President may decree a Partial Mobilization. He shall promptly summon and report to the National Assembly the cause for, and extent of, the Partial Mobilization. The National Assembly shall determine whether or not the Partial Mobilization so decreed shall be annulled.

SEC. 16.

The President of the Philippines shall have authority to appoint and maintain such technical advisers from the Army of the United States and for such period of time as he may deem necessary, which shall in no case extend beyond his term of office.

SEC. 17.

The Army of the Philippines shall consist of the Regular Force and the Reserve Force.

SEC. 18.

The organized peace establishment, including the Regular Force and the Reserves, shall comprise all organizations necessary to form the basis for a complete and prompt mobilization for the national defense and for the performance of national police duties in peace and war. The army shall at all times be organized in so far as practicable into battalions, regiments, divisions and, if necessary, higher units.

The personnel and duties of the Philippine Constabulary shall, within one year following the passage of this Act be transferred to the control of the Chief of Staff, who shall thereafter be responsible in both peace and war for the functions performed by the Constabulary at the time of passage of this Act.

SEC. 19.

The Regular Force shall consist of the Infantry, the Cavalry, the Field Artillery, the Coast Artillery Corps the Air Corps, the Corps of Engineers, the Signal Corps, and the active elements of the Offshore Patrol; the General Staff Corps; the Services consisting of the Adjutant General's Service, the Judge Advocate Service, the Quartermaster Service, the Medical Service; the Ordnance Service, and tie Chaplain Service, the professors and cadets of the Military Academy; of detached officers, of detached enlisted men, of unassigned recruits, of such other officers and enlisted men as may be provided for, and en, and of the Constabulary. Officers and enlisted men permanently assigned to the services shall be known as officers and enlisted men of the Staff; officers and enlisted men not permanently assigned to a service shall be known as officers and enlisted men of the line.

In time of peace the number of active commissioned officers and of active enlisted men required for the Regular Force shall be recommended annually by the Chief of Staff.

In so far as may be practicable, the commissioned and the enlisted personnel of the Regular Force shall be drawn from all provinces of the Philippines.

SEC. 20.

Officers and enlisted men of the Regular Force shall be assigned to the various branches, corps and services as the President may direct.

All officers and enlisted men of the Regular Force who are not assigned to duty with any branch, corps or service herein provided for shall be carried on the detached officers' list and detached enlisted men's list, respectively.

SEC. 21.

The Constabulary shall be organized from such personnel of the Regular Force and in such manner as the Chief of Staff may prescribe.

SEC. 22.

1. All commissioned officers in the Army shall be citizens of the Philippines; Provided, That the President may in his discretion retain in the Army any officer now holding a commission in the Philippine Constabulary. Commissioned grades authorized in the Army of the Philippines shall include third lieutenant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and general officer: Provided, That the general officer grade may be further subdivided into grades as prescribed by the President: And provided, also, That individuals permanently commissioned in a grade above that of colonel shall be the known as General Officers of the Line; those not so commissioned but holding an office in the Army to which the grade of general officer is attached shall be known as General officers of the Staff.
   
2. Officers shall be commissioned in the Army of the Philippines subject to such examinations for the determination of fitness and proficiency as the President may prescribe. All appointments and promotions shall be made by the President, but the appointments and promotions in appointment and promotions in the Army from the rank of colonel shall be made with the consent of the Commission on Appointments of the National Assembly.
   
3. Except as hereinafter authorized, all appointments of regular officers shall be in the grade of third lieutenant, from among applicants who at the time of appointment shall be not less than twenty-one nor more than twenty-six years of age. Priority in filling vacancies in the grade of third lieutenant will be given: first, to graduates of the Military Academy of the Philippines or of the Military or Naval Academies of the United States; second, to graduates of senior military training units in schools and colleges; third, to enlisted men who at the time of appointment shall have served more than one year in the Army of the Philippines; and fourth, to others: Provided, That original appointments in the Medical Corps shall be in the grade of first lieutenant from among applicants who at the time of appointment shall not be less than 25 nor more than 35 years of age: And provided, also, That during the five years following the approval of this Act, the President is authorized to fill vacancies in any commissioned grade in the Army of the Philippines by appointment of officers of the Philippine Constabulary who are citizens of the Philippines and of such officers of the Philippine Scouts and of the Officers' Reserve Corps, U. S. Army, and of graduates of the United States Naval Academy, citizens of the Philippines, as have, prior to their appointment in th8 Army of the Philippines, legally and honorably severed their connection with the active elements of the Army of the United States, and of such others as may qualify through professional and military examination prescribed for the purpose.
   
4. Officers will be distributed among grades as determined by the President of the Philippines: Provided, That the number of officers commissioned above the grade of colonel shall at no time exceed 1.2 per cent of the authorized strength of the officer corps; above the grade of lieutenant colonel shall not exceed 2.6 per cent; above the grade of major shall not exceed 5.2 per cent; above the grade of captain shall not exceed 14.9 per cent; above the grade of first lieutenant shall not exceed 45.2 per cent.
   
5. In determining relative standing, officers of the Regular Force shall take precedence over officers of like grades in the Reserve Force. Officers in each grade in the Regular Force and in the Reserve Force shall be separately listed in order of rank in a manner to be prescribed by the President, which list shall establish the seniority of each officer in the Regular and Reserve Forces, respectively, and which seniority shall not be thereafter changed except through operation of this or other laws: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall be construed as giving officers with purely military functions authority over officers with purely civil functions and vice versa, except as specifically prescribed in this or in other acts.
   
6. Promotion of regular and reserve officers shall be accomplished under such policies and procedure as the President may direct, provided that in time of peace no reserve officer may be promoted to any grade until he has served at least two years in the next lower grade, officer.

Any reserve officer may, in the discretion of the President, be discharged at any time.

While on such duty, officers so detailed shall receive the pay and allowances of commissioned officers of their own grade in the army of the country in which the military school is located: Provided, That such pay is equal to or higher than that received by the officer so detailed.

SEC. 23.

1. The Chief of Staff shall be directly subordinate to the President of the Philippines. He shall preside over the Central General Staff. Under the direction of the President of the Philippines, he shall cause to be made, by the Central General Staff, the necessary plans for recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, mobilizing, training, and demobilizing the Army in peace and in war and for the use of the military forces for national defense. He shall render annually to the President, for transmission to the National Assembly, a full report upon the condition of the Army of the Philippines, including statements as to strength, cost, unexpended balances, requirements, and so on.
   
2. The Central General Staff shall consist of the Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff, the Provost Marshal General, and such other officers of grades not below that of first lieutenant as the President may direct.

It shall be the duty of the Central General Staff to prepare plans for the national defense and for the mobilization of the man-power and material resources of the nation in an emergency, to investigate and report upon all matters affecting the efficiency of the Army and its state of preparation for military operations; to perform such inspections of the Army as may be necessary to insure thoroughness and uniformity in training and compliance with regulations; to perform for the infantry, cavalry artillery and air units and the Constabulary such; functions as the Chief of Staff may prescribe; and to render professional aid and assistance to the Chief of Staff.

SEC. 24.

Except as herein otherwise provided, the Provost Marshal General shall, under the direction of the Chief of Staff, be responsible for the performance of all duties heretofore devolving upon the Chief of the Philippine Constabulary. He shall exercise such supervision and control over all kinds and classes of police forces as may be directed by the President, for the maintenance of peace, law and order throughout the Philippines.

The Provost Marshal General is charged, under the direction of the Chief of Staff, with the training, discipline, administration and interior economy of the Philippine Constabulary.

The office of the Provost Marshal General shall contain a Recruiting Division, a Constabulary Division and such other divisions as the Provost Marshal General, under supervision of the Chief of Staff, shall prescribe.

The Recruiting Division, under the supervision of the Provost Marshal General and the Chief of Staff, shall be responsible for the execution of all laws and regulations regarding the registration, examination and assignment of male citizens of the Philippines in connection with the fulfillment of their military obligations as prescribed in Title III of this Act.

The Constabulary Division, under the supervision of the Provost Marshal General and the Chief of Staff, shall be charged with all functions now carried out by the Chief of Constabulary and His Headquarters Administrative Staff, except those pertaining to the purchase, procurement, storage and issue of all military supplies, equipment, material and animals, to the recruiting of personnel, and to the operation of the Military Academy.

SEC. 25.

1. The Adjutant General's Service, the Judge Advocate's service, the Quartermaster Service, the Medical Service, the Ordinance Service and the Chaplain’s Service. Each Service shall consist of a Chief of Service and such assistants as the President may direct. The head of each service shall be responsible, under the supervision of the Chief of Staff, for the efficient performance of duties herein assigned to his service, and for the execution of all instructions and orders issued him by the Chief of Staff.
   
2. The Adjutant General's Service shall be charged, under such regulations as the Chief of Staff may prescribe, with the operating functions of procurement, assignments, promotion, transfer, retirement, and discharge of all officers and enlisted men of the Regular and Reserve Forces.
   
3. The Judge Advocate's Service shall render such legal assistance as may be required by the military forces.
   
4. The Quartermaster Service shall be charged with the purchase, procurement, storage, and issue for the Army, of all supplies, except those whose procurement is assigned to other services; with the operation of utilities, with the acquisition of real estate and the issue of licenses in connection with government military reservations; with the transportation of the Army by land and water, and with the disbursement of all funds for the National Defense, the accounting for same, and with such other fiscal duties may be required by law or directed by the Chief of Staff: Provided, That such commissioned technical assistants from other branches or services as may be required shall be detailed to the Quartermaster Service for a period of not to exceed three years: Provided, further, That under such officers regulations as the Chief of Staff may prescribe, officers of the Quartermaster Service, accountable for government moneys, may entrust moneys to other officers for the purpose of having them make disbursements as their agents, and the agent officer as well as the officer who entrusts the money to him shall be bonded and held pecuniarily responsible to the Philippine Government.
   
5. The Medical Service shall be charged with all matters pertaining to the physical examination, health, and sanitation of personnel and animals of the Army, including the procurement of technical medical equipment.
   
6. The Ordnance Service shall be charged with the purchase, procurement, storage, and issue of such ordnance, chemical warfare, engineer and signal material as the President may direct.

The several sections of the Ordnance Service are charged with the study, experiment and development of all technical material and equipment pertaining to their respective services.

SEC. 26.

The offshore patrol shall comprise all marine equipment and personnel acquired by the Philippine Government and assigned either in peace or in war to the control of the Chief of Staff. It shall have such duties and powers as may be prescribed by the Chief of Staff.