UST Golden Corps of Cadets Alumni

Welcome to the unofficial website of the University of Santo Tomas Golden Corps of Cadets Alumni Association - International (USTGCCAAI) the on-line alumni forum of the UST ROTC and the Honorary Corps of Lady Sponsors

A Brief History Before the Commonwealth was inaugurated, little attention was given by the American authorities to the need for installing an adequate defense system in the Philippines. In 1921, the Wood-Forbes Mission called attention to the need for an "adequate local organization of Philippine people for the defense of the islands against aggression." And recommended to the administration that it should "at once take the necessary steps to organize, train and equip such a force". In the 1930’s, however, the fear of foreign aggression, presumably Japan, led the commonwealth to consider the problem of National security an urgent one, which must take priority over other problems of the Philippines. In 1936, the National Assembly passed the National Defense Act (Commonwealth Act No. 1), requiring all able-bodied Filipinos to undergo military training for defense purposes in times of National Emergency, or external invasion. President Manuel L. Quezon requested and obtained the service of General Douglas Mac Arthur in formulating the defense system. Mac Arthur, who had by this time retired as Chief-of-Staff of the United States Army, responded to Quezon’s request, and the appreciative President conferred upon the doughty General the title of ‘Field Marshal of the Philippine Army’. As military adviser to the commonwealth and chief of the United States military mission to the Philippines, Mac Arthur, with the assistance of Major Dwight Eisenhower, was largely responsible for the Country's defense system. Mac Arthur's defense plan envisioned the organization of a citizen army composed of two forces: A regular force (including the Philippine Constabulary); and a reserve force that would increase each year through a continuos program of training 21-year old able-bodied men for a period of 5 1/2 months. Preparatory Military Training (PMT) in the elementary and High School, and the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) in the collegiate level would help supplement the regular government training given the recruits. On September 3, 1936, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) school senate approved the step to organize the ROTC making military science and tactics compulsory to every able-bodied male student of the University, thus giving birth to the UST Golden Corps!

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