1420 in 1970 proposing an “Act Creating the National Defense College of the Philippines and for other Purposes.” Also in the same year, then Congressman Ramon Bagatsing filed the House Bill No.

190 in 1973 to formally create the NDCP to "fulfill the need for an institution that will provide for continuing and intensive studies of the diversified problems related to national defense and security.

To carry out its teaching function, the NDCP draws top experts from the academe and senior officers with command and staff experiences from the major services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

On February 22, 1998, the college moved to its new and modern three-story building in the Academic Row, Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

It embodies the college's effort to be the center of excellence in strategic thinking on national security matters in the Philippines and in the Asia-Pacific region.