The University of the Philippines ROTC Corps of Cadets pioneered the Reserve Officers' Training Corps in the Philippines in 1912. In 1935, Commonwealth Act No. 1, also known as the "National Defense Act", was enacted by the National Assembly of the Philippine Commonwealth government. It mandated the creation of a citizen army composed of a small regular force, and a larger reserve component of which ROTC was a part. All able-bodied male students enrolled in Philippine colleges and universities were required to undergo two years of basic military instruction administered under the ROTC program.