Inquirer file photo
MANILA, Philippines — More groups voiced out on Monday their opposition to the government’s plan to revive the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program, saying genuine education should instead be advocated to influence the critical thinking of students.
For Vladimer Quetua, Alliance of Concerned Teachers chair, the move was a “blatant attempt to use our youth as pawns in geopolitical conflicts.”
This was in response to Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino’s statement over the weekend that the renewed push to reintroduce mandatory ROTC to college students would be a “big help” in instilling in them a “strong love for the country” amid growing tensions between Beijing and Manila in the West Philippine Sea.
READ: Marcos to Senate: ROTC bill must be prioritized
“The push for mandatory ROTC is not about instilling discipline or nationalism, but about preparing our young people as cannon fodder for the rising threat of war in the region,” Quetua said.
He cited the case of Mark Welson Chua, a University of Santo Tomas student who was murdered in 2001 after he exposed the corrupt practices within the university’s ROTC ranks.
Reviving the mandatory ROTC program would only expose the youth to “similar dangers,” he added.
He suggested that the government instead push for a “genuine patriotic education” to foster critical thinking, peace promotion, and safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, without relying on ROTC.
Renee Louise Co, national executive vice president of the Kabataan party list, said that Congress should refocus on restoring the huge budget cuts suffered by some state universities and colleges (SUCs) instead of pushing the return of mandatory ROTC.
Co estimated that the program would cost the government around P61.2 billion while 28 SUCs were facing P14.4 billion in budget cuts next year.