Philippine Army RESCOM 2023 | Qualifications, Requirements, Application

The Reserve Command (RESCOM; Filipino: Pangasiwaan ng Panlaáng Kawal, Hukbóng Katihan ng Pilipinas) is a major support command of the Philippine Army. It was created for the sole purpose of reserve force management, organization and Government Arsenal procurement.

Training is the major task handled by RESCOM. Its primary arms are the university/college-based Department of Military Science and Tactics-administered mandatory basic and the optional advanced Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC); and the territorial unit-administered Basic Citizen’s Military Training (BCMT).

Reserve officers are commissioned based on the Armed Forces of the Philippines policy on (direct) commissionship in the reserve force known as Circular Nr 4 series of July 2010. Those who are commissioned through this source subsequently undergo an officer orientation program. Many officers in AFPRESCOM are licensed physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, teachers, lawyers and chaplains. Some are directly commissioned as Lieutenant Colonels through the commissioning program of National Defense College of the Philippines as graduates of the Masters in National Security Administration. Other than time-in-grade and merit promotions, rank adjustments are authorized depending on civilian qualifications.

Six (6) Sources of Commission in the AFP Reserve Force

• GROUP I – Advance ROTC/ POTC Graduates
• GROUP II – Deserving NCOs
• GROUP III – Licensed Professionals
• GROUP IV – Masters in National Security Administration (MNSA)
• Group V – AFP Affiliated Reserve Units
• GROUP VI – Presidential Appointees and Elected Officials
• GROUP VII – Resignation from Present Commission and Subsequent Commission in the Reserve Force, AFP

Commissioned Reserve Officers

Qualifications

• Degree holders who are Advance ROTC graduates or have successfully completed the prescribed program of instruction for the Probationary Officer Training Course (POTC/ MS-43)
• NCOs of the Regular Force, PA with outstanding records of service and technical experience and those who have rendered exceptional service in combat or other activity involving risk of life or limb in consonance with provisions of RA 718.
• Degree holders requiring four (4) or more years of study in the courses of interest to the PA and passers of appropriate government licensure examination particularly those in the fields of:
  • Accountancy
  • Architecture
  • Environmental Planning
  • Interior Design
  • Foresters
  • Urban Planning
  • Agriculture
  • Criminology
  • Education
  • Customs Administration
  • Librarian
  • Information Technology
• Graduates of Master in National Security Administration (MNSA)
• Government officials and presidential appointees may qualify for a commission in consonance with the provisions of Section 44 of RA 7077.

Application

The application must inquire to the nearest:

• Regional Community Defense Group
• Community Defense Center (CDC)
• For more information, please visit thir available social media platforms
  • facebook: Reserve Command, Philippine Army
  • instagram: hqs_arescom
  • twitter: @hqs_arescom

Basic Citizen Military Training (BCMT)

Section 35, RA 7077 mandated a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines to undergo basic citizen military training programmed by the Philippine Army.

Requirements

• Picture (Latest whole body Post Card size)
• PSA Birth Certificate
• High School or College credentials (Authenticated by the School Registrar)
• Police Clearance
• Physical Examination Report

Qualifications

• Filipino citizen with good moral character
• Physically and mentally fit for military training
• At least a high school graduate
• Non-ROTC graduate
• At least five (5) feet in height
• Eighteen (18) years old but not more than thirty-five (35) years old as they will compose the 1st Category Reserve
• Certified resident of a clustered locality where candidates are sourced out

Application

Applicant must inquire to the nearest :

• Regional Community Defense Group (RCDG)
• Community Defense Center (CDC)
• For more information, please visit thir available social media platforms
  • facebook: Reserve Command, Philippine Army
  • instagram: hqs_arescom
  • twitter: @hqs_arescom

Advance ROTC Program

This training phase is conducted to transform and prepare the ROTC cadets enrolled therein to eventually become Reserve Officers of the Philippine Army consisting of four (4) Military Sciences (MS) namely: MS 31, 32, 41 and 42 respectively.

Requirements

• Certificate of grades with an average of not lower than 85%
• Medical Certificate

Qualifications

Applicant must passed the following:

• ROTC Summer Camp Training (RSCT)
• AFP Service Aptitude Test (AFPSAT)
• Must be physically fit

Benefits

• Automatically enlisted into Reserve Force of the Philippine Army under Standby Reserve
• Cash incentives per Semester amounting to Php 12,000.00

Application

Applicant must inquire to the nearest :

• Regional Community Defense Group (RCDG)
• Community Defense Center (CDC)
• For more information, please visit thir available social media platforms
  • facebook: Reserve Command, Philippine Army
  • instagram: hqs_arescom
  • twitter: @hqs_arescom

“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve…. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

History

Philippine Commonwealth
By 1935, the Philippine Commonwealth, under the leadership of President Manuel Luis Quezon enacted the very first legislature of his government. Commonwealth Act Nr. 01 ensured that Philippines will be prepared to thwart off any invasion or aggression of some sort by any nation, or entity and thus called upon its citizens to provide manpower to then fledgling Philippine Army. The National Defense Act of 1935 heralded the creation of what would be the Armed Forces of the Philippines and very first documented account of voluntary citizen enlistment.

World War II
Reservists fought hard during the 1940s and saw action on almost all parts of the country in World War II. Regular and reserve members of then Philippine Army/Philippine Army Air Corps (forerunner of the Phil Air Force), the Philippine Constabulary, and the Philippine Offshore Patrol (what would become the Phil Navy later on.) were incorporated with US units and rallied under the banner of the USAFFE.

A ragtag group of former ROTC Cadets, Guerilla Fighters and draftees of the Philippine Army Reserve Force formed units among themselves and fought gallantly against the Japanese invaders. Collectively, they were known as the Hunters ROTC Unit.

Post World War II
Post WWII saw the re-organization of the AFP and the further need to rebuild the defense of the nation. Reserve units were then organized to Battalion Combat Teams with the sole purpose of force augmentation in the eventuality that another world war ensues.

On September 1, 1977, the Army Reserve Command was activated pursuant to General Orders No. 250 of the Philippine Army. Army officers were tasked to organized, train, and manage a reserve force that will equate or surpass the current strength of its regular forces.

1986 EDSA Revolution
By 1986, after the EDSA Revolution, the unit was shortly deactivated since the AFP at that time was undergoing retraining and re-organization.

Birth of the modern reserve force
1991 saw the birth of a new reserve force when Republic Act 7077 (Reservists Act of 1991) was signed into law on July 1, 1991. This new legislation directed the AFP to organize and create units with the sole purpose of reservists management.

On May 12, 1992, the Reserve Command, Philippine Army, was again reactivated pursuant to HPA General Orders No. 392 and was later again renamed as the Army Reserve Command on October 1, 1999 (HPA GO Nr 1300) and was given its marching orders to maintain, administer, develop, train, and organize reservists units to help enhance and sustain National Security and Development.

Future of the reserve force
In the 21st century, the unit is modernizing itself pursuant to the directives of Headquarters, Philippine Army's transformation roadmap to 2028.

Source: Reserve Command, Philippine Army