Should mandatory ROTC be revived?

THOSE pushing for the revival of the Reserve Officers Training Corps or ROTC anchor their position on Section 4 of Article II of the 1987 Constitution.

The section provides: “The prime duty of the Government is to serve and protect the people. The Government may call upon the people to defend the State and in the fulfillment thereof, all citizens may be required, under conditions provided by law, to render personal military or civil service.”

What is important to point out here is the Constitutional provision does not automatically make ROTC mandatory, but subject to conditions provided by law.

These could include sanctions on those who abuse their authority in conducting military-style drills, or engage in various corrupt activities.

We still recall the mandatory two-year ROTC program was abolished after a University of Santo Tomas student was brutally killed in 2001 after he exposed alleged corruption in his school’s military training program.

Proponents of ROTC restoration insist this is necessary in view of prevailing tensions in the South China Sea that could lead to war.

The key to preparing for the possibility of any outbreak of war, however, is modernizing the armed forces and building alliances with friendly nations to thwart armed aggression.

Then there’s the argument that ROTC will instill patriotism or love of country and inculcate discipline among the youth.

We don’t know about that; all we know is that those students forced to march in formation for hours every week with officers breathing down their necks and shouting or cursing at them to obey instructions or else be subjected to disciplinary actions aren’t likely to love the Philippines or willing to die for their country because of abusive or corrupt ROTC officers.

Besides, mandatory ROTC would mean an added economic burden on students, especially those from poor and disadvantaged families, who would have to buy uniforms and spend for food and transportation to ROTC training sites.

Rather than ram mandatory ROTC down the throats of our young people, it should be made optional.

Republic Act 9163, or the National Service Training Program Act of 2001, allowed students to choose from the following service components: ROTC, Literacy Training Service, and Civil Welfare Training Service.

Before these, there was the Youth Civic Action Program under which students were encouraged to engage in community development projects, including taking part in massive tree-planting programs in deforested areas as one way to prevent flooding from destructive typhoons that hit the country every year.

This program should be expanded to help the nation cope with climate change.

Filipino youths have better things to do than being forced to undergo military drills under the searing tropical heat in summer and heavy downpour and floods during the rainy season so they can enhance their skills and knowledge in various fields of endeavor and contribute to sustained and meaningful nation-building.

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