Mandatory ROTC will enable students to help during disasters, claims Dela Rosa

August 1, 2024 , 08:17 PM

By Rodolfo Dacleson II

(August 1, 2024) – Sen. Bato Dela Rosa on Thursday said the reinstatement of the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program would enable students to help during calamities.

He stressed that Senate Bill No. 2034 or the ROTC Act will mandate the Department of National Defense (DND), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to oversee the methods for disaster preparedness and response of students.

“We ensure in the proposed bill that the DND, CHED, and TESDA will collaborate closely to design and implement comprehensive training modules that cover both theoretical knowledge and practical skills,” said Dela Rosa in a statement.

He furthered that the Office of Civil Defense and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council may also be tapped.

“They are experts in conceptualizing and implementing programs of instructions that would include, I hope, the four pillars of disaster risk reduction management, namely the mitigation, preparedness, response, and rehabilitation,” added Dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa proposed SB 2034 in March 2023, claiming it would prepare the Filipino youth to defend the nation.

The bill, however, has faced opposition in the Senate.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the government must focus on higher funding for the military instead of forcing students to undergo ROTC training.

“As the tension in the West Philippine Sea heats up, the most correct course of action for us as the Senate is to continue and judiciously increase support for military modernization, especially for the Philippine Navy and the adjustment of various other aspects of national defense and not make that an excuse,” said Hontiveros.

Sen. Koko Pimentel III also expressed his objection to mandatory ROTC, citing the death of hazing victim John Matthew Salilig in February 2023.

Last April, a survey by Pulse Asia revealed that nearly 70% of Filipinos support the revival of mandatory ROTC.

In 2001, ROTC was made optional through the National Service Training Program Act following the murder of cadet Mark Welson Chua, who exposed the corruption in the military training program of the University of Santo Tomas.

(With reports from Maeanne Los Baños, News5)

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