Members of youth groups protested outside the House of Representatives on Monday, Feb. 4, 2019, denouncing proposals to lower the minimum age of criminal liability (MACR) and revive the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). (File photo by GABRIEL PABICO LALU / INQUIRER.net)
MANILA, Philippines — Student councils of the University of the Philippines Diliman and Ateneo de Manila University, which will be competing in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 85 men’s basketball championship, urged their communities to wear black during the game finals on Monday to oppose the “restoration” of mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC).
“Its implementation in the past allowed the culture of violence and impunity to flourish. Under the false pretense of instilling nationalism, Filipino students experienced rampant abuse,” the student groups said in a joint statement on Saturday.
“We cannot let mandatory ROTC happen again. We cannot let the systems of the past that oppressed our fellow Filipinos quietly return without resistance,” they said.