THE PERFORMANCE LEVEL OF THE READY RESERVE BATTALION IN THE PROVINCE OF LAGUNA

This study attempted to determine the factors affecting the performance level of volunteers of the Ready Reserve Battalion in the province of Laguna. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions: (1) What is the professional profile of the Ready Reserve Battalion in Laguna as to: 1.1. Educational qualification; 1.2 Field of specialization in the Reserve Force 1.3 Length of Service in the Reserve Force; 1.4 Job assignment; 1.5 Seminars and Training Attended; 1.6 Status of work? (2) What are the status of work values of the Laguna Ready Reserve Battalion in the province of Laguna in the following areas of consideration: 2.1 Job satisfaction; 2.2 Job involvement; 2.3 Love of work? (3.) What is the performance level of the military and civilian activities in terms of: (3.1) Recognition; 3.2 Promotion; 3.3 Awards? (4) Is there a significant difference between the performance of the volunteers in their civilian and military activities based on the following variables: 4.1 Recognition; 4.2 Promotion; 4.3 Awards? (5) Do the professional profile of the status of work values of the Laguna Ready Reserve

This study attempted to determine the factors affecting the performance level of volunteers of the Ready Reserve Battalion in the province of Laguna. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions: (1) (20) Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Officers and one hundred twenty five (125) enlisted personnel of the Laguna Ready Reserve Battalion. To answer statistically the cited problems, percentage, weighted mean and the chisquare test were employed. The study revealed the foregoing findings: most members of the Ready Reserve Force were college graduates as reflected by the frequency of 62 equivalent to 44 percent. The frequency of 19 or 13.1 percent indicates that most of them were in the field of Company Headquarters; most them have been in the service for 11 to 15 indicating that most of them are senior officers with a frequency of 55 equivalent to 37 percent. The average mean of 3.14 revealed that members of the reserve force would "Seldom" do their respective job assignments. Most of them have attended the seminars and trainings 12 to 15 times which showed that they have been welltrained in the community operation and extension works with a frequency of 76 or 53 as percentage. The findings clearly showed that most of the Laguna Ready Reserve battalion have permanent work with a frequency of 73 equivalent to 51 percent. The mean level of the job Republic Act of 7077, otherwise known as the Citizen's Armed Force Act of 1991 created the Laguna Ready Reserve Battalion, a group of volunteers in the army who serve the community out of love of the country and compassion for fellowmen. The motto states "Service is our Fulfilment" anchors on the concept of volunteerism. The members of the Battalion renders their services for free in the depressed areas in the community or barangay, work closely with other stakeholders, agencies and local government units, business sectors and civil societies. Likewise, the social welfare of the people to the higher levels in the community has been raised. The government has attempted to address some of the asserting value of volunteer activity through the program of the Philippine Army to establish an Army Reserve or Citizen Armed Forces by means of welfare provisions. The volunteers of the Reserve Force are obtained and given opportunities to help improve the community. However, as a recruit in the army it requires training and a complete period of session and seminars so that they could be recognized as a regular reservist or voluntary reservist. The volunteer members do the most vulnerable and should satisfy the pressing needs of developing the community even no major external threat exists. Likewise, the Laguna Ready Reserve Battalion has been organized in the province of Laguna as patterned after the National Reserve Forces major goal which is community development.

Background of the Study
History speaks about the heroism of volunteers since the beginning in times of war. They were, respectable citizens who took turns to be on duty, sometimes with unpleasant and even dangerous situation they risk their lives in times of crisis. Therefore, volunteers had the history of heroism, courage and performance as shown in records in the battle of experience of Philippine history not only in the third World Wars but also since in the beginning for foreign invasions. Lim (2004) states that the role of the Philippine military in the society in terms of civil policy for defense and security needs must be assessed. In the last analysis, the effective protector of the people must be its part, must be knowledgeable about its craft, its people, and its limitation including the political and economic developments in our society and the rest of the world, for the new types of warfare and security concerns requires knowledge in formulation of national security policy. The volunteer reserves widely distributed across the country provide the most visible armed forces. They help the society about the importance ofnation building, provide a means by which the community as a whole contributed the national security interest. Bunagan (2003

Methodology:-
The study is a descriptive method of research using questionnaires, which aims to analyse the factors affecting the performance of Laguna Ready Reserve Battalion. It will determine through evaluation process of the profile of the respondents and their services rendered in the province of Laguna for the year 2008-2009.

Literature Review:-
The top recognition factors that employees indicated are praise, high esteem and specific manner. Other top ranked motivators were support and involvement, which is providing the information that employees need to do their job. Likewise, employees are allowing them to decide to do their work allowing them to pursue ideas that might have improving things and giving them a choice of work assignments. (http://www.workforce.com/section/01/feature 23/61/87/index.html) Senga (2005) states that the first fundamental considerations that must be kept in mind for both reward and punishment is the persons deserve to be recognize. Therefore, recognition is essential to this study in order to realize the value of volunteers and how they are performs well in serving their motherland.
It was cited in Section II Number 3. Promotion of Enlistment Personnel paved way that a promotion of enlisted shall be recognize because of their potential to perform the duties and responsibilities of the next higher grade based on the authorized troop ceiling, the Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, shall annually declare the promotion vacancies in all of the higher grades of enlisted personnel. (Supnet, 2000) According to Eamiguel (1999)  Awards as described by Obojski (2006) use medals as a type of an award that is given to the recipient based on their exemplary achievement. Dauz (1999) noted that in recommendation for awards should be followed. It is highly 885 desirable that a recommendation be coursed thru military channels and acted upon as quickly as possible. If circumstances preclude submission of a complete documented recommendation, it is best to submit it immediately with the information that additional data is to be submitted at the headquarters for final approval by the authority for recognition. However, Dauz cited that an officer should have a written documentation to measure the accomplishments and services given in assigned tasks to the Commanding Officer to evaluate the type of award be given.
A graduate degree as declared by Michel (2004) is rapidly becoming a prerequisite for senior leaders in armed forces. Likely, military credentials provide a ticket into some of the country's best graduate programs. Experience is valued by admission counsellors nationwide equipped with wisdom to succeed in even the most competitive programs. Moreover, education equates to greater rewards. A graduate degree can make a difference in military and civilian careers. Under the Republic Act 7077, Section 2. The Reservist Act of 1991 states that "Graduates of the Reserve Officer Training Corps" (ROTC) basic and advance course and who were issued orders as enlisted reservist or reserve officer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; Graduates of authorized basic military instructions were issued orders as enlisted reservist or reserve officer.
The educational qualification as stated by Michel, and Gutek determines the mental and physical capability of the volunteer. Thus the higher the education the higher the rank in the Reserve Force will be acquired and qualifies the volunteers for professional activity and positions in business, industry and in the government.
Marcon et.al. (1999) stated that the field of specialization is important to equip the personnel with essential knowledgeand skills required to effectively perform the functions for which a personnel was trained with physically and mentally to perform as an officer.
The length of service and age characteristics of members in hierarchical organization under the influence of proportionality policies is one of the strictest proportion in the promotion level at the AFP.
Under the Presidential Decree, Executive Number 138, Section 2: Seniority. The relative seniority of all other Reserve Officer in the different promotion list shall be determined as follows: 1. The officer with a longer active service in the permanent grade shall be senior and the longer period of total active commissioned service shall be senior where such time in permanent grade and total commissioned service are still the same, seniority shall be determined by their original appointment and in the same not covered by the foregoing, seniority shall be determined by age. This is significant in the present study that the length of service determines the longer service given by the active volunteers of Laguna Ready Reserve Battalion for issuing rank and grade of the reservist.
Mathis et.al (1999) agreed that job assignment indicates what is done, why is done, where is done and briefly how it is done. The process of developing a job assignment helps articulate the most important outcomes needed from an employee performing a particular job. It is also a communication tool that tells co-workers where their job leaves off and the job of another starts.
The Reservist Act of 1991 defines the mission of the Reserve Force as follows: 1. To provide the base of the expansion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the even to war, invasion or rebellion. 2. To assist in the relief and rescue during the disaster or calamities. 3. To assist in socio-economic development. 4. To assist in the operation and maintenance of essential government or private utilities in the furtherance of overall mission.
According to Lim (2003) in accordance with the mission, the reserve force is expected to perform varied roles essential to the pursuit of defense and security as well as national development.
During periods of relative peace, the reserve force performs the activities which include (a) manpower development through training, education, infrastructure development efforts through livelihood projects, preservation of ecology and natural resources, such as reforestation and participation in historical events, celebration, parades and others.

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In times of crisis or disaster, civil military service units are called to assist in search, rescue and relief operation. Hence, the reserve force is expected to help in the rehabilitation and development or disaster/crisis stricken areas by providing health services as part of its civil military operations.
In times of war, they provide ready and standby reserve units to augment regular forces as well as services support, base defense, intelligence network, logistic and others.
Seminars and trainings according to Hathfield (2007) help each reservist to grow skills and knowledge to better perform their job and increase loyalty, retention and motivation as well as to grow and develop one individual. Snelling et.al (2002) cited that military expects to continue to meet personnel requirements through volunteer enlistments for the foreseeable future. Substantial numbers of new jobs will be created to maintain the forces at their present levels and training is an excellent opportunities to become a better educated and well trained applicants particularly in demand as occupations in the military reservist.
Status of work based on Boulding (2007) states that officers are accountable for what happens to their units and their people. That if someone is degrading the uniform or indeed need help must take the tactful action necessary to correct the situation. It is always emphasized time to delegate an authority responsible for carrying out an order.
Gupana (2000) emphasized that the selection of good employees is basic to manpower management. Likewise, there is no guarantee that the men selected will be efficient and productive, since many factors can influence the efficiency and stability of a man on his job. Davidescu (2007) discussed that it is very important to have a satisfying job. Job satisfaction is an effective reaction to one's job.
Based on the "Psychological identification with job "in which it is define an important part of his self-concept in a major way". Attitudes and behaviours are also linked to job involvement.
Bilson (abilson@uclan.ac.uk)stresses the importance of emotions, particularly love, and considers the way in which ethical action is shaped by culture. It emphasizes the importance of engaging in reflection on professional practices and team, professional and organizational culture in order for social workers to improve their awareness of ethical dilemmas and practice. This is relevant to the present study because every person or individual loves their work as well as the field they belong. Based on the study of Avinante (2000) he described that a soldier will not fully understand the value of his work, if he does not grasp the inherent, dignity of every human being. However, it hinges on the dignity of human being in the exercise of basic human and moral values in his work because man is unique by nature. Thus, the physical and spiritual nourishment is needed. This makes a human different from animals because Man is endowed with spiritual faculties-the intellect and the will by which he is the master of his action.

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The study of Michel (2004) declared that more education equates to greater rewards. A graduate degree can make a big difference in military and civilian careers and it has a competitive advantage both financial and career.  Table 2 shows the field of specialization and specialized career course based on the armed Forces of the Philippines Occupational Specialties of 145 reservist, the lowest with a frequency of 1 or .69 percent are the Surgeon and Medical Section, Supply Section and Signal Intelligence Team, and the highest frequency of 19 or 13.1 percent are in the Headquarters. Based on the data analysed, the frequency of 19 or 13.1 percent indicates that most of the members of the are in the field of Company Headquarters.  Table 3 As reflected in the above out of 145 members of reserve force, there are 27 or 19 percent of them have 1 to 5 years in service, 46 or 32 percent have 6 to 10 years in the service, 55 or 37 percent of them have 11 to 15 years in service and 7 or 12 percent of the reserved have 16 years and above in the service. Findings reveals that most of the reservist are senior officer with a frequency of 55 or 37 percent.   As indicated in Table 6, in terms of permanent position of the reservist it has a frequency of 73 and percentage of 51 which means most of the reservist have permanent position while in terms of self-employed there was a frequency of 42 and a percentage of 29 which some of them was self-employed and others are casual and probationary in their working status with 15 and 11 frequency and 10 or 8 percentage which it has a little percentage as reflected in their working status. Not satisfied Table 7 shows the data in terms of job satisfaction of Laguna Ready Reserve Battalion the mean level of 1.98 signifies the place of work with .8 as a standard deviation of which they are moderately satisfied. The job security and type of work with 1.92 as mean .84 and .71 respectively moderately satisfied in their job satisfaction. The number of working hours with a mean of 1.86 and .77 as a standard deviation which they are moderately satisfied also in in their job. Findings reveals that the Laguna Reserve Battalion are satisfied with their job as specified.  Table 8 shows the job involvement of the volunteers of Laguna Ready Reserve Battalion with a mean level of 3.The reservist with a mean of 3.64 and with a Standard deviationof 51. The Reserve force also involved themselves in the job assigned with a mean level of 3.48 and a Standard deviation of 59 and a verbal interpretation of strongly agree which means that the Reservist enjoyed in their involvement to the different task assigned to them.  Table 9 shows that the mean level of love of work of the reserved force has a mean level of 3.61 and standard deviation of .57 with a verbal interpretation of very often and 3.33 with a standard deviation of .57. Based on Avinante (2000) he described that a soldier may not fully understand the value of work, if he is not engages on it.
The study is an evident that the Reserve Force love their work so much.     Table 11 shows that out of 145 respondent 73 is on the higher position with50 percent rating and a frequency of 66 with a percentage of 46 is not yet promoted. According to Supnet (2000) promotion given to the enlisted personnel may be evident based on their potential to perform their duties and responsibilities of the next higher grade and based on the authorized troop ceiling.     Table 14 shows that the computed t-value of 2.56, 14.37, and 5.17 are greater than the P-value of .011 and .000 level of significant which indicates that educational qualification, length of service, seminars of the Reserve Force have significant effect on recognition as well as on the promotion and awards as reflected on the t-value. In terms of professional profile as to field of specialization it is signicant base on .05 level of significance with a degree of freedom of 144 and has negative effect on recognition and a positive effect on both promotion and award with a tvalue of 9.32 and 1.37. In terms of job assignment it obtained t-value of -595 and -1.25 that indicates negative effect on recognition and awards. Likewise the working status of the reservist obtained t-value of -89, -5.65 and 1.96 which indicates negative significant effect to both recognition and promotion and positive significant effect on award with 0.5 level of significance. It was supported by the study of Abanto (2003) that educational attainment has a significant weight on the promotion of employees either by rank, salary or a position.
892 .000 144 Table 15 shows that the significant effect of the work values to the performance level of the reservist, further states that love of work obtained a negative t-value of 1.08 which is greater than the p-value of .280, the obtained t-value of 22.79 and 5.49 are greater than p-value of .000 which indicates the significant effect both promotion and awards at .05 level of significance. However, job satisfaction and job involvement obtained the computed t-value of 2.68 and 2.65 at .05 level of significance respectively. Likewise, job satisfaction and job involvement obtained the computed t-value of 2.68 and a p-value of .000 at 0.5 level of significance. Ellopo (2008) stated job satisfaction is an indicator to performance hence Avinante (2000) cited that anyone may not fully understand the value of work, if he does not grasp the inherent dignity of human being. Therefore, love of work, job satisfaction and job involvement considered to be the greatest factors in recognition, promotion and awards.

Recommendations:-
Based on the findings and conclusion, the following recommendations are drawn: 1. It is recommended that the National Government vigilantly implement policies and guidelines to mandate all reservist to continue participating training and seminars. 2. The Headquarters must scrutinize all the documents of the reservist in giving promotion, recognition and awards. 3. The Headquarters provide financial assistance and increase combat allowance of the reservist. 4. By giving incentives it will boost the morale of the reservist to work efficiently. 5. Recruit more reservist based on the AFP Transformation Road Map.