‘TOL VIEWS
The Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council or LEDAC has confirmed that among the 20 priority bills for passage of the Marcos administration are the Mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) and the National Service Training Program (NSTP). During the second meeting of the LEDAC last July, the agency declared that the Mandatory ROTC and NSTP bills are expected to be laws before the year 2023 ends.
The Mandatory ROTC bill is strongly supported by no less than Vice President Sara Duterte. This proposed law aims to revive the ROTC program and establish the same as a mandatory component of the senior high school curriculum. This means that students of Grade 11 and Grade 12 from public and private educational institutions will have to undergo military service training.
According to President Marcos, “the aim is to motivate, train, organize, and mobilize students for national defense preparedness, including disaster preparedness and capacity building for risk related situations.” Our country now confronts all sorts of threats – territorial, economic, social – and it is best for young Filipinos to be ready and able to meet these threats and contribute to the preservation of human life and liberty. It is clearly the aim of the government through the revival of the ROTC program to shape young, strong, disciplined, patriotic Filipinos and prepare them for the more challenging work of defending, preserving, and leading the Philippine nation.
I am an advocate of Mandatory ROTC, much like Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. According to Senator Bato, 84 percent of young Filipinos aged 18-24 agree that ROTC should be mandatory. In the Mandatory ROTC bill, female students are not exempted from undergoing military service training, while those with special needs or disabilities will be offered an alternative program.
Apart from physical military education, the ROTC program will also include education on human rights, care and protection of the environment, love and devotion of the country, personality and moral development, and disaster preparedness. The government will likewise allocate ₱5 billion as initial budget for the free uniform and boots of ROTC cadets.
The first ever Philippine ROTC Games is a personal advocacy which has already finished three regional qualifying legs and is already headed to the national finals. The ROTC Games aims to provide our young cadets with the opportunity to showcase their athletic abilities develop and sharpen their physical skills and expand their networks of friendship and camaraderie. I have always envisioned the ROTC Games as the key that unlocks the potential of young Filipinos for service and leadership. I am hopeful that mandatory ROTC will be instrumental in forming and shaping the future generation into Filipinos who are willing, ready and able to serve others, country, and God, above all.