Cayetano favors mandatory ROTC for college students only

MANILA, Philippines – Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano is supporting the revival of the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) but only for college and not senior high school students as pushed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Cayetano, however, said he would let the respective House committees tackle the proposed law.

“I’m letting the committees come out with [proposals]. But I’m more in favor of a more hybrid one for college because every one of us [has] different abilities,” he said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel’s “Headstart” on Monday.

The previous House leadership already approved a version reviving ROTC for Grade 11 and 12 students in public and private schools but it did not prosper in the Senate.

In November 2018, Duterte urged Congress to expedite the restoration of ROTC to “instill patriotism, love of country among our youth.”

In June this year, he also certified as urgent Senate Bill No. 2232, which mandates the return of ROTC for senior high school students in public and private schools.

House priorities

As the House resumes session this Monday after a month-long break, the Taguig-Pateros representative said the chamber would prioritize the passage of the proposed P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020, other revenue bills, and bills creating departments on overseas Filipino workers, disaster resilience and water.

“Everything that’s controversial or divisive dyan muna sa committee tapos pag-usapan ninyo nang pagusapan [the committee can tackle exhaustively],” Cayetano said.

“Having said that, the key there will be the relationship with the Senate kasi pag sinabi ng Senate [if the Senate says] ‘we don’t want it’ then it’s dead. But we’re hoping that the Senate will be open-minded,” he added.

Earlier, House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said the measures scheduled for final approval on Monday include the Joint Resolution extending the availability of the 2019 appropriations for maintenance and capital outlays to December 31, 2020, and the bill postponing the May 2020 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

The House also aims to discuss and fast-track the approval of a pending joint resolution that authorizes the use of the rice subsidy under this year’s national budget for the purchase of palay (unhusked rice) from local farmers, according to Romualdez.  /gsg