To entice the youth into joining the military even without the mandatory ROTC, Senator Imee Marcos urged Tuesday the giving of more focus on regions where past recruitment had been high and “where being a soldier is considered an exceptional honor.”
“Look to Ilocandia, Kalinga and Apayao provinces, tap into the warrior culture of Mindanao,” stressed Marcos.
She said the military should reduce giving attention to highly urbanized cities like Manila and Cebu.
“The military establishment has to think out of the box and be more innovative in achieving its goals of instilling discipline and patriotism among the youth and making the country ready for armed conflict,” she added.
She said the military could also pattern its recruitment program after that of the United States, using catchy posters and making enlistment centers more accessible.
The neophyte senator warned that military presence in schools and mandatory ROTC in high school would only turn off the youth and give the military a bad name.
She said that the military must offer better incentives than leftist and terrorist groups to counter student activism and extremist violence in the country.
She related that soldier recruitment, a “pathway out of poverty” and allowing students to freely choose ROTC or civil service training in college, would make the military more attractive to the youth.
She noted that free or subsidized education, free hospitalization, life insurance, and stipends could attract both students and out-of-school youth away from activism and terrorist recruitment.
Instead of requiring high school military training that lacked community service subjects, Marcos urged greater focus on developing civic awareness and participation among grade school to college students through a Citizen Service Program outlined in a bill she filed at the Senate.