A survey conducted by the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) revealed that the majority of students in the country’s private Catholic schools are opposed to reintroducing the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program.
According to the April 2023 survey, 53 percent of 20,461 students opposed the idea of restoring mandatory ROTC, while 28 percent supported it.
(CEAP/Facebook)
Twenty-eight percent of those who supported ROTC said they wanted to acquire basic military training, physical fitness, emergency readiness, and civic involvement.
Meanwhile, those 54 percent who disagreed said it would be too much of a financial strain on their families, and 42 percent said it takes a lot of time commitment for the students.
Thirty percent, or 6,166, of the respondents, were in college, and 70 percent of the majority were in their senior high school.
CEAP said on its Facebook page that the goal of the poll was to get a "collective opinion" from students about the proposed mandatory ROTC bill in Congress and how it might affect them, their education, and their future.
In 2001, corruption and controversies led to the mandatory ROTC program's scrapping. (Rhowen Del Rosario)