FILE PHOTO: A Marine trains a group of students enrolled in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) on how to handle a rifle. A Senate bill is seeking to revive mandatory ROTC. INQUIRER/MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines — More Filipinos said that the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program should only be “optional” for senior high school students.
This was the result of the First Quarter 2023 Social Weather Stations national survey which asked 1,200 adults nationwide whether the ROTC program should be “optional,” “compulsory,” or “should not be in the curriculum of students” in senior high school.
The March 26-29 survey showed that 42 percent think the ROTC program should only be optional while 35 percent approve it should be compulsory and 22 percent say it should not be in the senior high school’s course of study at all.
READ: Hontiveros questions poll on mandatory ROTC: Does it capture the sentiment of youth?
Respondents who favor making the ROTC program an “optional” course agree that a student should be given the chance to choose between the program or community service.
The polling was done from March 26-29. It has a sampling error margin of ±2.8%.
Social Weather Stations survey for the first quarter of 2023. Photo from SWS
Social Weather Stations survey for the first quarter of 2023. Photo from SWS
The SWS specified that the biggest bulk of support for mandatory ROTC was in Visayas with 46% as it only garnered 34% approval in Mindanao, 32% in Balance Luzon, and 29% in Metro Manila.
It also noted that only 1% of respondents picked the answer “don’t know and non-responses” to the question regarding the implementation of the ROTC program.
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