By Mario Casayuran
With the approval of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of National Defense (DND), male or female Persons with Disability (PWD) may be allowed to enroll in the Reserved Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC) program while they are in the senior high school level.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN) “They (PWDs) could be in the military’s support services,’’ Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate economic affairs and energy committees, said. He said he is set to refile the ROTC in the coming 18th Congress after a Senate bill covering the ROTC issue failed to reach the Senate-House of Representatives bicameral conference committee level in the 17th Congress that officially ends June 30. Gatchalian sees faster congressional debate on the ROTC after it was certified as urgent by President Duterte days before the Senate adjourned sine die last June 7. The 18th Congress opens July 22 after the two legislative chambers choose their officers in the morning session and the Senate and House members hear the President deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in the afternoon joint session. Gatchalian stressed that the ROTC program is not purely a military curriculum. It also teaches disaster preparedness and not all who graduate from the ROTC course would become military reservists, he said. What is important is that the ROTC program teaches discipline, he added. Gatchalian said a Senate study shows that there are bigger chances of ROTC graduates joining the military ‘’although they do not automatically become members of the military’’ after graduation. ‘’It is their option,’’ he added. Gatchalian said he is pushing for the ROTC program so that graduates would have better perspective in life and that it ensures a stable nation.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN) “They (PWDs) could be in the military’s support services,’’ Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate economic affairs and energy committees, said. He said he is set to refile the ROTC in the coming 18th Congress after a Senate bill covering the ROTC issue failed to reach the Senate-House of Representatives bicameral conference committee level in the 17th Congress that officially ends June 30. Gatchalian sees faster congressional debate on the ROTC after it was certified as urgent by President Duterte days before the Senate adjourned sine die last June 7. The 18th Congress opens July 22 after the two legislative chambers choose their officers in the morning session and the Senate and House members hear the President deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in the afternoon joint session. Gatchalian stressed that the ROTC program is not purely a military curriculum. It also teaches disaster preparedness and not all who graduate from the ROTC course would become military reservists, he said. What is important is that the ROTC program teaches discipline, he added. Gatchalian said a Senate study shows that there are bigger chances of ROTC graduates joining the military ‘’although they do not automatically become members of the military’’ after graduation. ‘’It is their option,’’ he added. Gatchalian said he is pushing for the ROTC program so that graduates would have better perspective in life and that it ensures a stable nation.