PRIORITY | Youth groups urge government to address students’ woes over mandatory military training

December 16, 2022 , 03:49 PM

By Beatrice Puente

(December 16, 2022) – Youth groups on Friday slammed the passage of a substitute measure that seeks to impose mandatory military training among college students over fears that this might only create negative repercussions.

Aki Liongson, the deputy secretary general of the National Union of Students of the Philippines, stressed that the National Citizens Service Training (NCST) Program is not the most urgent thing that the youth need from the government.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives approved House Bill 6687 on the third and final reading with a vote of 276-4-1. It was approved on the same day it hurdled the second reading after President Bongbong Marcos Jr. certified the bill’s urgency.

“I think there are no necessities (to certify the bill as urgent). Parang it’s the last thing that we should be doing in our education system. It needs a lot of budget para mas maraming kabataan ang makapag-aral,” said Liongson on the ABS-CBN News Channel.

Under the bill, all college students must go through a two-year NCST that aims to provide “practical knowledge for survival.” It also has a provision for optional Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).

Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel, who voted against the measure, believes that the proposal will not aid the youth, contrary to the promises cited by its proponents.

“Ang representasyong ito ay naniniwala na ang urgent na pangangailangan ng mga kabataan ay mga patakaran na magtitiyak ng learning recovery mula sa education crisis na mas lalong pinalala sa gitna ng pandemya,” said Manuel in explaining his vote.

For Liongson, the supposed safeguard in the bill does not guarantee that the youth would be protected from possible abuses. He said the orientation of military programs imposes “blind obedience” that might restrict students from reporting illicit practices.

He recalled the case of Mark Welson Chua who was found dead in 2001 after exposing the corruption and abuses in their ROTC unit at the University of Santo Tomas. Chua’s death sparked widespread condemnation that eventually led to the scrapping of the mandatory ROTC.

“Mas marami pa kaming nakitang loopholes. Of course, nandiyan ‘yung provisions na penal. But as we can see it, the institution itself na gustong i-craft ng bill na ito ay very much prone to abuse of power and corruption,” said Liongson. “That’s why we are opposing it at this level.”

In its position paper, the Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK) urged to scrap the NCST, noting that the government only wants “to mobilize the youth to pick up its slack.”

“We continue to raise our demands for measures that would actually target the causes of the burdens the Filipino people bear: Aggressive taxing of the elite to fund social welfare, education, and environmental spending,” said SPARK.

(PM)

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