By Charissa Luci Atienza
The House committee on basic education and culture, and the House committee on higher and technical education jointly formed on Tuesday (Feb. 12) a technical working group (TWG) to consolidate 32 measures seeking to make the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program mandatory in all public and private educational institutions.
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During the initial deliberation on the mandatory ROTC bills, the joint panel, co-chaired by Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo and Baguio City Rep. Mark Go, decided to create the TWG, to be headed by Go.
"The creation of the TWG that would consolidate all the mandatory ROTC measures was the last motion approved by the joint panel. It will be headed by Rep. Mark Go," Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, one of the principal authors of the bill, told the Manila Bulletin in a message.
It was Isabela Rep. Antonio Albano who moved for the creation of the TWG, he noted.
During the deliberation, Ungab, in his sponsorship speech, pointed to the need to revitalize the country's citizen service laws.
"We cannot merely stand still and make do with the current NSTP (National Service Training Program) Law, while our country is swept away by threats of external aggression and terrorism, civil disturbance, and catastrophic natural and man-made disasters," he said.
"I echo the voice and stand of my co-sponsors when I say that I believe that the answer lies with our proposed Citizen Service Act. It provides an answer to a pressing national need which is comprehensive, relevant, and fiscally responsible."
He said Congress committed a blunder when it passed a law making the ROTC program optional as "knee-jerk" response to the death of University of Santo Tomas (UST) student and cadet Mark Chua. Chua had exposed the supposed corruption in UST's ROTC program in 2001.
"It was the act of Congress that abolished the ROTC. Perhaps, Congress does make mistakes. One of the biggest blunders of Congress was to make ROTC optional," Ungab said.
"I believe it (Republic Act No. 9163 or the NSTP Act of 2001) was a knee-jerk reaction of the Congress ."
Ungab noted that the Philippines is the only country in Asia that does not have a mandatory military training program. "Even Singapore, a very small country, has a very good reserve force coming from the mandatory military training from government."
RA 9163 was signed into law on Jan. 23, 2002, allowing college students to choose between ROTC, Literacy Training Service, and Civil Welfare Training Service as part of their required NSTP.
Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu Batangas said necessary safeguards will be put in place to ensure that the Chua incident will not happen again.
"The bill, which was approved during the previous 17th Congress, sought the creation of a Grievance Committee, a cluster of educational institutions that shall receive complaints and conduct motu proprio probe on any complaint or allegation of abuse, violence, or corruption in any educational institution implementing the Basic ROTC program," he said.
He added that the ROTC program will be "free from any politicization and from being used to instill a particular ideology."
Of the 32 measures pending before the joint panel, 17 bills specifically sought the establishment of a mandatory two-year Basic ROTC program for students enrolled in Grade 11 and 12.
“The inculcation of the spirit of nationalism, nation-building, and national preparedness among the country’s population is vital to nation’s survival,” Abu said.
"If implemented efficiently, it would have the potential to produce an entire generation of young Filipinos who will be proud of their Filipino heritage and are ready to give the entirety of their being to serve their countrymen, to defend the State at all cost."
In his sponsorship speech, Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the declining number of ROTC enrollees and graduates "has caused concerns over the sustainability of the Armed Forces of Philippines reserve manpower supply, and consequently, on the capacity of the government to respond to any national threat or national emergency."
"Restoring ROTC will motivate, train, organize and mobilize the students for national defense preparedness," he said.
For his part, Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas said, "If approved into law, it can hasten the conversion or the probability of our young men in different colleges and universities to be more disciplined and more true to their love of country."
During the deliberation, Rep. Joey Salceda asked the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and Department of National Defense (DND) to get their acts together and have "one voice" as far as the bills are concerned.
Under the measures, DND, DepEd, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) are mandated to design and formulate the Program of Institution (POI) on the ROTC program in Grades 11 and 12.
Moreover, graduates of two-year basic ROTC and who have completed a four-year baccalaureate degree shall be considered as first-level civil service eligibles, and graduates with Advanced ROTC and who finished a four-year course shall be considered second-level civil service eligibles, the bills provide.