Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero admitted on Thursday, Oct. 10, that it will be tough for the chamber to pass Senate Bill (SB) No. 2034, or the measure that sought to make the controversial Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program mandatory.

"Right now, it will be tough. That’s as far as I can say. It will be tough, especially given the other expenditure government needs to allocate funds for in the coming year given even the elections," he said during the Kapihan Sa Senado forum.

Escudero mentioned this after a meeting with Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, who told him that it would require a funding of P8 billion per year once it is implemented and more or less P27 billion over three years.

"Kung susuriin natin at pagaaralan malaking ambag na ito halimbawa sa ating mga state universities and colleges imbes na nsa isang aspeto lamang (If we look at it and study it, this amount would greatly benefit state universities and colleges, instead of just one aspect),"

Asked if the program will be considered in the 2025 budget, he said: "Well ang isang katanungan dun ay may walong bilyon bang mahahanap para sa ROTC (One question there is whether there's P8 billion that can be found for ROTC)?"

"Dahil tiyak ko kailangan natin ng P8 bilyon sa marami pang ibang bagay, at isa nga ba to sa uunahin dapat ng Kongreso? (Because I'm sure we need P8 billion for many other things, and so is this one of the things Congress should prioritize)? Congress in the exercise of its wisdom shall decide on this matter in regard to the 2025 budget," he stated.

"But to give you an idea of what Congress will be weighing in deciding certain matters, P27 billion or P8 billion a year can fund a lot of things in Department of Health, in the Department of Education with the SUCs, with the Pantawid Program," he added.

Other than this, Escudero said that they intend to recommend that those who undergo training will not automatically be made part of the reserved force.

"Hindi naman ibig sabihin automatically nasa reservist sila ng AFP. Ang importante para sa AFP ay magkaroon at mabigyan ng training ang mas marami sa ating mga kababayan kung saka-sakaling kakailanganin ito (It doesn't mean they are automatically on reserve status in the AFP. What's important for the AFP is to train as many of our countrymen as possible, so they can be ready if needed)," he added.

Recently, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino said that he had received the go signal from President Marcos to mandate tertiary level students to undergo ROTC.

“With the President’s go signal, the ROTC bill has been moved to Tier 1 from Tier 2 in the list of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) – making it a top priority. So, when the session resumes, we expect to discuss it right away," Tolentino said.

The senator believes that one remaining matter for the senators to resolve is the transitory provision; particularly, on whether the program will last one or two years.