The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) expressed its 100 percent support for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos’ plan to implement mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program for senior high school students.
“100 percent support ang CHED sa statement ng Pangulo. Matagal na namin pinag aralan ito. In fact, four years ago, meron na kaming plano o nakahanda na kung ano ang revision na mangyayari sa (NSTP) kapag nagkaroon ng ROTC for senior high (CHED is 100 percent in support of the President’s statement. We have studied this for a long time. In fact, four years ago, we already had a plan or prepared what would happen to the NSTP once the mandatory ROTC is implemented for senior high students),” said De Vera in a “Laging Handa” public briefing on Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Once mandatory ROTC is implemented for senior high school students, the NSTP Law will be amended. This, according to De Vera, is because the contents of the optional two years of ROTC program in Universities will be converted into an “advanced ROTC program.”
This means that the “basic ROTC program” will be given to senior high students. The “advanced ROTC” option in Universities, on the other hand, will focus on producing possible officers that can be recruited to the Armed Forces, said De Vera.
“Meron na rin kaming nakahandang proposal. Anytime ay maaari na naming ibigay sa Pangulo o sa Kongreso na yung 2-year program sa ROTC sa University level ay macoconvert into certificate o diploma program. So pwede silang magkaroon ng diploma in military sciences or certificate in military sciences or diploma in disaster management (Our proposal is all set. Anytime we can give it to the President or the Congress. This indicates that the 2-year ROTC program at the University level will be converted into a certificate or diploma program. It means that they can have a diploma or certificate in military sciences or a diploma in disaster management),” he said.
Meanwhile, De Vera added that CHED’s approach to the advanced ROTC in disaster management will be heavily skills-based.
The mandatory ROTC in the Philippines was abolished following the death of Mark Chua, then 19-year-old student of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) who exposed the alleged corruption in the University’s ROTC program.
After this controversial disclosure, Chua went missing and was found dead on March 18, 2001. The incident led to the signing of the NSTP Act of 2001 into law.