Gov’t eyes pilot implementation of mandatory ROTC next school year

MANILA, Philippines — The government is eyeing a two-year pilot implementation of the proposed mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) for senior high schools next school year.

Last February, the House of Representatives approved on second reading, the measure, seeking the revival of the mandatory ROTC.

Both chambers of Congress need to approve the measure before it is transmitted to the President for signature.

READ: House OKs mandatory ROTC for grades 11, 12 on 2nd reading

But Brigade General Rolando Rodil, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), told the Senate committee on Education on Monday that there is already a draft memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the implementation of the proposed mandatory ROTC, which they called the Advance Citizen Training Program (ACTP).

Rodil said the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Department of Education (DepEd) had already formulated a joint curriculum for the two-year pilot implementation of ACTP for Grades 11 and 12.

He said they have likewise identified 100 public senior high schools that will be part of the ACTP test.

A draft MOA, he said, was already prepared by the two secretaries of the DND and DepEd for the pilot implementation.

“It has not just taken off last semester but we plan to implement that in Grades 11 and 12 this coming school year,” Rodil told the committee. /ee