Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 2) — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Thursday said the proposed return of the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program in college should be rolled out in one to two years if it is signed into law.
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The senator’s suggestion is less than the five-year timeframe earlier mentioned by Department of National Defense (DND) Sec. Carlito Galvez Jr.
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“One year, two years siguro are enough. Hindi na siguro pwedeng umabot ng four years o five years kung mag-phasing man sila dahil once this is signed into law, it will be effective right away after publication,” he told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
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[Translation: Maybe one year or two years are enough. Maybe it should not take four or five years if they will implement it through phasing since it will be effective right away if signed into law after publication.]
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The senator explained that if it becomes a law, all first year college students would have to take the course. Prolonging its full implementation to four to five years may put on hold the graduation of some students, he noted.
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Dela Rosa, who is chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, said they will still fine-tune the proposed measure to ensure proper implementation by the DND.
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Among the issues they already ironed out is related to manpower.
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During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, DND Usec. Franco Nemesio Gacal said the AFP would need to deploy 9,000 to 10,000 military personnel — equivalent to two infantry divisions that could cover Mindanao — to train students from around 2,400 higher education institutions.
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Dela Rosa said the country has around 700,000 reservists that the DND can tap in its implementation of the program.
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Mandatory ROTC was abolished in 2002 following the death of Mark Welson Chua, a cadet at the University of Santo Tomas who revealed the alleged corruption in the university’s program.
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