Shocked and surprised? Not likely.
Lawmakers and the chairman of the National Youth Commission (NYC) on Tuesday, Dec. 6, dispelled claims by the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) that they were surprised by the sudden discussions on the mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) in the House of Representatives.
During the joint committee hearings by the Committee on Higher and Technical Education (CHTE) and Committee on Basic Education and Culture (CBEC), CHTE chair and Baguio City lone district Rep. Mark Go balked at the claim of NUSP’s Joshua Aquiler that the committee did not follow the procedural rules on giving a notice to them prior to the deliberation.
“Paano ka nagulantang nandito ka ngayon? Mukha hindi ka naman (How are you surprised when you are here? You don’t look surprised),” the lawmaker said.
For his part, CBEC chairman and Pasig City lone district Rep. Roman Romulo stressed that his committee already held 12 hearings tackling “various issues on learners and teachers".
“So, please do not insinuate that we prioritize this. I think that is not right,” he said.
Go further said that laws are not being crafted to shock the youth. Rather, the “objective” of the proposed measures under his committee is to provide a way for the youth to “develop” themselves, with HB 6486 being one of them.
These comments came after Aguilar said the youth group was surprised with the discussions on the consolidated bill for House Bill (HB) No. 6486, or the “NCST Program Act".
“Una, nagulantang ho ‘yung mga kabataang estudyante dito sa pagtalakay natin ng (First, us young students were surprised by the discussions on the) mandatory ROTC bills or any consensus bills about it,” Aquiler, a resource speaker, said.
ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, a member of the House’s Makabayan bloc, seconded this concern, and asked her colleagues to follow the “rules” of a two-to-three-day notice for deliberating on certain measures.
“Two to three days dapat ‘yung ating pagbibigay ng (our allowance of) time para dun po sa (for the) notice. Parang ganun ang nangyayari ngayon sa atin sa Kongreso. Ito rin po maging kami sa Makabayan meron palang ganito, bigla napunta sa (That is what’s happening to us in Congress. Even us in Makabayan were that we have this, it’s suddenly on the) calendar ‘yung ganito,” she said.
“Mina-manifest ko rin ‘yung pagsunod sa (I also manifest that in following the) rule. Kung may ganyan (If there’s something like that), at least meron (we have) one day or two days para mapaghandaan din natin (so we can prepare),” Castro added.
Aquiler asserted that the student youth expect to tackle the more “urgent” matters of retrofitting schools, additional budget, restoration, and the P10.3-billion budget cut on state universities and colleges instead of the controversial mandatory ROTC being pushed by the Marcos administration.
Meanwhile, NYC chairperson Ronald Cardema, who virtually attended the committee hearing via Zoom, also disputed the statements made by the youth representatives.
“We resent the statement of these youth groups questioning the President (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) on his right to declare something as an urgent measure. We also resent the statement regarding Vice President Sara Duterte who should only focus daw on text books, salary grades of teachers, and everything,” he said.
Lecturing the youth groups on the establishment of the National Defense Act during the Commonwealth, the NYC chairperson said the issue of mandatory ROTC has been in Congress for the past 20 years and that this has been an urgent measure during the time of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“Naiintindihan natin iyong sinasabi ng ibang mga naimbitahan diyan na kabataan na meron silang takot patungkol sa (We understand what the youth there is saying that they have some fear of the) military. Pero hindi dapat ito pangalandakan diyan sa Kongreso at sasabihin pa nila nagulantang sila dahil dito sa usapin ng (But that should not be brandished there in Congress and they will even say they were surprised because of talks about the) ROTC,” he added.
Cardema himself stressed that he is pushing for mandatory ROTC for college, mandatory Citizenship Advancement Training (CAT) for high school, and mandatory Boy Scout and Girl Scout for elementary.