Where are the Minutemen?

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The Minutemen has its origin from the American Revolution. They were militias who fought in defense of their localities. Consisted mostly of able bodied men from 16 to 30 years of age, they were highly mobile and can be deployed in a minute’s notice, hence the term “Minutemen”.

In the event of national emergency, the standing members of Philippine Armed Forces that now numbers to about 120,000 will just be but a welcoming contingent to any invading force. That is why Republic Act (RA) 7077 also known as the “Reservist Act” was enacted in 1990. 
It aims to ensure that there is a ready force to augment the regular force to meet any contingencies, be it wartime or peacetime. It was fathered by the constitutional mandate through the National Defense Act of 1935.One of its silent provision is; 

 ARTICLE VI
MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT

 Section 14. Compulsory Military Registration and Training. – All male citizens between the ages of eighteen (18) and twenty-five (25) years who are not reservists shall be required to register for military instruction. Registration shall take place in suitable registration places to be prescribed by the city or municipal government between the dates of April First and Seventh commencing one (1) year after the effectivity of this Act. Biennial registrations shall be held during the same period in succeeding years.



The reserve force is the equivalent of the militia; the minutemen; it is the citizen’s army. 

But if one will look around, there is neither a manifestation that RA 7077 is in effect or being implemented  nor there are evidence that the Philippines have a trained citizens army equivalent to that of the Minutemen. Where are they? Are they so small, or just discreet, hence hardly noticeable? Will it be presumptuous to believe that the Philippine Minutemen or the citizens army are merely on paper; was it just a caricature, drawn on RA 7077 to make it look real… meaner?

Let’s do a little math if they do really exist according to the words of the mandate. Rumor has it that the Armed Forces have a registered reservist of around 200,000, which is roughly just a quarter more of the standing regulars. The Philippines has more than 7,100 islands with a land area of 300,000 square kilometers and 36,000 kilometers of shoreline. Combining the numbers of the standing regulars and the reserve force, we will reach a total of 320,000 men or roughly 45 men per island; 1.06 men per square kilometer; or 8.9 men per kilometer of shoreline. Leaning on the law of averages, the preceding figures though theoretical is suggesting inadequacy to the point that one may doubt the existence at all of a Philippine ready reserve force, according to the requirements of RA 7077.

One provision of RA 7077 is the maintenance of a ready reserve force to be taken from the first category composed of able bodied citizen, with ages ranging from 18-36 years old. A census in May 2010 by the National Statistics Office (NSO) estimated the Philippine population at 92.3 million. In conservative term and for academic discussion, let us peg the number of citizens that would qualify under Category l as defined under RA 7077 at 10% of 92.3 million, or say 9 million. If the provision is to be strictly implemented because it is the law in the first place, the Philippine's registered ready reserve force should be around 9 million considering that it has a young population. This is a far cry from the 200,000 men that is said to be registered with the military authorities. And what does it tell us? Two things; First, the Philippines should stop making a mockery of itself by enacting laws that is not doable or implementable, much more enforceable. Second, if war breaks, heaven forbid, it will be like 1942 again. Filipinos will bow their heads to every sentry in the city. A classic case of a Law in Atrophy.

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