FINDING THE ANSWERS
By FORMER SENATOR ATTY. JOEY D. LINA
Atty. Joey D. Lina
Former Senator
President Duterte is right: Patriotism can be instilled in senior high school students who undergo some military training. And so are discipline, teamwork, and leadership skills, among many others. I should know. I was corps commander in Preparatory Military Training during my high school days.
The President’s call last week for Congress to pass a measure making the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program mandatory for all senior high school students certainly has the support of those yearning for a more disciplined and patriotic citizenry.
“I encourage Congress to enact a law that will require mandatory ROTC for Grades 11 and 12 so we can instill patriotism, love of country among our youth,” Mr. Duterte said in a speech at the 35th Founding Anniversary of the Army Reserve Command on Nov. 22 in Tanza, Cavite.
Discipline and obedience to authority developed through the ROTC program can go a long way in addressing the problems our country is faced with – from the nightmarish drug menace to the hellish traffic jams worsened by undisciplined motorists and pedestrians.
The move to revive mandatory ROTC comes at a time when an overwhelming majority of Filipinos are wary of Chinese intrusions in the West Philippine Sea. The latest SWS survey revealed that “87 percent of Filipinos said it was important that the Philippines regained control of the West Philippine Sea islands occupied by China” and that “84 percent of Filipinos said it was not right Manila simply lets Beijing build and fortify its military outposts in the disputed territories.”
Indeed, along with the sense of discipline and patriotism that one gets from active involvement in ROTC is the readiness to fulfill the ultimate responsibility of defending the Philippines from foreign aggression, considering that defense of the State is the duty of everyone.
It was Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew who prominently pushed the idea that an army comprised of the nation’s citizenry can serve as a deterrent to foreign invaders because of the “knowledge that even if they could subdue our Armed Forces, they would have to keep down a whole people well-trained in the use of arms and explosives.”
With all the proper values that help shape a young person’s character – aside from toughening of the physique through pushups and jumping jacks – derived from ROTC, it is indeed essential to bring back the old glory of military training for students.
All the marching drills and the various formations that cadets execute under the hot sun have their purpose. Leadership skills, teamwork and unity are developed and the grueling exercises instill the value of discipline and sacrifice to achieve common objectives.
During our school days at Osmeña High School in Tondo, military training was viewed as a sort of a rite of passage from adolescence towards adulthood. Sporting long hair was the fad then, and like others in the bloom of youth, I didn’t want to go against the trend by having the short haircut required for the training. But it didn’t take long for us to learn and appreciate the value of humility and obedience to authority.
Mandatory ROTC program was stopped after the 2001 killing of Cadet Mark Chua who exposed corruption that plagued ROTC at the University of Santo Tomas. After his death, ROTC became optional starting in 2002 through RA 9163 or the National Service Training Program Act.
Critics of ROTC cannot be blamed if abuses and violence in the past have created the impression that the program is no good and students are not learning anything other than marching on the field under the sweltering heat of the sun. A militant youth group even claimed ROTC promotes “blind obedience” and that it is “nothing more than a fascist tool of repression used by the state to instill a militaristic mindset” among students.
To gain widespread acceptance and make the public realize the necessity of ROTC in our country’s development and security, there is need to enhance the program and put in place the necessary safeguards to avoid past mistakes.
Our leaders could be guided by what Lee said when he started building Singapore’s defense system to the exemplar that it is today: “We had to re-orientate people’s minds to accept the need for a people’s army and overcome their traditional dislike for soldiering… Only if we changed people’s thinking and attitudes could we raise a large citizen army like Switzerland or Israel.”
With public acceptance of an improved ROTC program, it would then be easier to implement, if the need should arise, the provision (Article 2, Section 4) in the 1987 Constitution which states that “Government may call upon the people to defend the State and, in fulfillment thereof, all citizens may be required, under conditions provided by law, to render personal military or civil service.”
The knowledge that millions of Filipinos with ROTC training would be willing and capable of defending the motherland could indeed be a strong deterrent against enemy invaders.
E-mail: finding.lina@yahoo.com