The escalation of China’s provocative actions at the West Philippine Sea (WPS) has prompted a congressman to call for the Senate’s passage of a bill reviving the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) curriculum as mandatory for all Filipino college students.
“The chances are now high for ROTC becoming mandatory anew in schools for all young Filipinos, following the recent commitment of Senate President (Juan Miguel Zubiri) for the Senate to take up its version of the bill in plenary after our Lenten break,” Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte was one of the lead authors of the House-approved bill restoring ROTC in higher education institutions and technical-vocational institutions.
“Alongside the ever-growing tensions brought about by our Beijing-instigated territorial dispute at the WPS that is clearly part of our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) in accordance with international law, one more reason for senators to act right away on their own version of the ROTC-revival bill is the result of a recent Pulse Asia survey—commissioned and then revealed by Senator Migz himself—that 69 percent of Filipinos favor making ROTC mandatory for all young Filipinos,” Villafuerte added.
The ROTC has been renamed the National Citizens Service Training (NCST) Program under the House-approved Substitute Bill 6687.
Under the measure, those completing the NCST program will be deemed national service reservists and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reservists who will make up the proposed National Service Reserve Corps (NSRC).
This would-be NSRC shall be under the supervision of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), pursuant to Republic Act 10121 or the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010.
To be civilian in nature, the proposed reserve corps will be a source for volunteers and conscripts in times of national or local exigencies such as calamities, disasters or armed conflicts to perform non-combat and non-military duties and services as the President or local councils may deem necessary.
“Restoring ROTC by way of the NCST program will motivate, train, organize and mobilize our students for national defense preparedness. This will also positively shape their character to become more responsible and dependable citizens,” Villafuerte said.
“Thus, should the government need to defend the State, our people will be well prepared for the contingency to render personal, military, or civil service,” he added.
Villafuerte was one of the lead authors of Substitute Bill 6687 that seeks to amend RA 7077, otherwise known as the “Citizen Armed Forces of the Philippines Reservists Act,” and to repeal RA 9163, also known as the “National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001,” by restoring the ROTC, now the NCST, as a mandatory program and requisite for graduation from universities, colleges, technical-vocational schools and other post-secondary institutions.