Senators expressed different stands on Senator Ronald Dela Rosa’s proposal to pass into law the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) for Filipinos.
Senator Francis Tolentino is supporting Dela Rosa, while Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III and Senator Risa Hontiveros have maintained their strong opposition to the revival to the mandatory training proposal.
Senator Imee Marcos begged off from commenting, saying that she will wait for a final copy following several amendments.
Dela Rosa, in his arguments, said: “How can you defend if you don’t have a reserve? How do you fight? Fight with keyboard, be keyboard warriors?”
“When you run out of soldiers, where do you get support for the soldiers? Does that mean that our earlier pronouncements that we will fight in the West Philippine Sea do not mean anything, and it is just rhetoric?” he said.
He further questioned the public and his fellow senators on how they would protect the country if there were no reservists. He cited the repeated tensions at the West Philippine Sea (WPS) due to alleged bullying by Chinese Coast Guards.
Tolentino said he fully supports the revival of the ROTC program as part of the country’s defense program and the overall goal of instilling discipline to the youth.
Tolentino, a brigadier general of the Philippine Army Reserve Force, said: “If we really want our reserve force to help the country, they can enlist as reservists even past school age.”
Pimentel said there is no need to make ROTC mandatory. He said elective ROTC subjects and courses should just be introduced in college.
Hontiveros, a member of the opposition bloc, said she also doesn’t see the need to revive the mandatory training
Instead, she cited the need for higher funding and support for military modernization, especially the Philippine Navy.