Department of National Defense (DND) Undersecretary Franco Gacal described as “enormous” the government’s requirements to run the ROTC program which Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has been pushing.
“Let’s say we have about 2,400 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) right now. If you will place four people per HEI to run this mandatory ROTC program, immediately you need about 9,000 to 10,000 people. You need 10,000 military personnel to run this program, for the 2,400 HIEs,”
Gacal, during a hearing by the Senate Subcommittee on “Revitalized Reserve Officers Training Act” pushing for the mandatory ROTC, said.
The National Youth Commission (NYC) projected that around 13.9 million Filipinos aged 18-24 will be under the government’s mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Course (ROTC) by July.
He said this does not also include TESDA and out-of-school youths.
Gacal said 10,000 military personnel is about 2 infantry divisions that would cover Davao Region, Caraga Region, and Northern Mindanao Region.
The hearing also tackled topics such as who will undergo the ROTC training, and if those taking short, two-year courses are also included in the program.
According to dela Rosa, those taking technical-vocational courses will not be required to take mandatory ROTC.
“If we want them to be included, then we will force TESDA to create a program to cater to ROTC requirements. This will be an added pressure on their part,” Dela Rosa said.
The DND said it is supporting the proposed measure, but there should be funding for manpower and logistics, describing the requirements as “enormous.”
Dela Rosa however dismissed the concerns.
On the other hand, Sen. JV Ejercito wants to ensure that the internal security of the country will not be affected in case some soldiers from the field will be pulled out to teach ROTC programs. He said reservists like politicians and actors can also be asked to teach.