The Department of National Defense (DND) held its first-ever seminar-workshop to capacitate its officers and staff in standardizing the agency’s policy formulation and drafting of proposed legislative measures on defense.
The event held from Tuesday until Wednesday, spearheaded by the Office of the Undersecretary for Defense Policy, also equipped the participants with the necessary knowledge, skills and mindset to strengthen the strategies in pursuing the DND’s legislative agenda.
The legislative agenda includes the National Defense Act of 2018, the Philippine Defense Industry Development Act of 2018, Anti-Terrorism Act, Reinstatement of Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Act, and the Special Economic Defense Zone Authority Act which are the key pieces of legislation being pushed by the DND in Congress.
Undersecretary for Defense Policy Ricardo David Jr. highlighted the need for the DND and its bureaus to “harmonize” legislative efforts and align them with existing policies.
“This year, we are including policy formulation and development in order to come up with standard procedures within the department and its bureaus,” David said.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Government Arsenal, Office of Civil Defense, National Defense College of the Philippines and the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office are under the DND.
“Beginning this year, we will be annually conducting seminar to monitor and assess the progress of our respective offices’ policy development,” David added.