I love the Philippines and I'm Proud to be Filipino

I love my country, where my dreams, hopes and ambitions began when I was born...
I love my country, which has been a home to my wonderful family and friends...
I love my country, which gave me the opportunity to show how worthy an individual I am...
I love my country, which accepted me despite my personal imperfections and frailities

I love my country, despite injustices happening in society...
I love my country, despite ridicules and brands it has received from its own people and other nationalities...
I love my country, despite my personal experiences of dismay with the conduct of some of my countrymen...

I shall never cease from loving my country...
I will always love the country who loved my totality...
I am from the Philippines, and I am a Filipino...
My name is Aaron Benedict De Leon... I love my country...

The FILIPINO PEOPLE'S Accountability

We've been witness to one of the more tragic crime incidents not only in recent Philippine History, but in the history of global news reporting. We saw before our very eyes the tragedy that took not only the lives of our less fortunate brothers and sisters from Hong Kong and China, but the dignity and pride that we currently have for our country.

Some have been reduced to name calling, insulting, branding, while most have been trying to pin point the blame to all sides, mostly to the government, the media and the police.

I admit to being one of those people who was extremely outraged after what transpired during the hostage taking incident, but after I came into my right senses, I realized that I, like the rest of those who were directly involved in the incident, should take accountability for what happened here in our country.

I hate to disown this government, since this administration was elected by more than 14 million Filipino's. Though I may not have voted for this sitting President, I stand by the institution by which he was seated. However, this sitting President must take accountability for what happened. Our diplomatic ties have been strained, and the President has to manifest sincerity in everything he does and show he is under control of the situation. This is no time to study, because studies should have been done long before he was installed to the Presidency. I would not want to hear the President say again, "We will study the matter and so and so forth."

Mr. President, you have to exercise leadership amidst all criticisms coming from the international community and the foreign press. Our Filipino people's morale is low and now is the time for you to inspire and show the way for all of us. I will not blame you for what happened, but you cannot just disown responsibility for the incident.

To our police, your institution has recently been tarnished with recent occurrences of torture, human rights violations, and now, this failed response to the hostage taking incident. I would vehemently disagree to take this incident as representative to a total failure of the entire police force. There are a lot of good men and women in our police ranks, and these incidents should never be the image of our police to our locals and even to foreigners. Now is the time to rally the troops, clean up the ranks and start re-organizing for the better.

You cannot blame the citizens for distrusting you, thus, our trust must be earned. It is a good start to claim responsibility and accountability for what happened. For now, we cannot change the impression built upon everyone who seems outraged with what happened, but we can start the healing by bringing to justice the death of not just those who died in the incident, but all those who have been victim of some of your people's lack of moral fortitude and honest judgment. You have to make your efforts consistent and sustainable. We will not tolerate your ningas kugon attitude any longer.

To our media, we know you were trying to do your job. We appreciate the efforts you exhaust in delivering up to the minute news of what's happening in the country. However, you must realize that above all laws, above all self-policing mechanisms that you have, that lives are of utmost importance in everything that we do here in the country. The right to life is the highest form of human right we have in this country, and anything that would put that to peril should outrightly be condemned and brought to justice. Don't give us excuses that its a journalists' instinct to continue to roll live footage, don't give us petty reasons just to absolve yourself from the blame. Its human instinct, but when the country's reputation and your entire institution's image is on the line, I think its time to salvage it by being truthful as you claim to be and honest in admitting a part of the blame for what happened. Take responsibility and accountability for what just happened, and I'm sure later on, people will understand you might just have crossed the line in trying to do your jobs real well.

To our people, it is most understandable that we are in a period of condemnation towards the police, the media and the government. They have been the subject of our endless criticisms, often, the topic of our hatred and disgust. But do we take time to examine what we do everyday, in terms of contributing to this behavior of some of the culprits? We always disown when something goes wrong with some of our institutions, while we claim victory when some of our heroes win in international competitions. We only take pride in success, but we take the other route when there is failure.

Filipino's are known to be great individuals, but this is no time to be individualistic when the country's image, reputation and history is on the line. Our message has to be one, and while we are one with the world in expressing our outrage for those who were primarily responsible, we have to stand by our Philippine institutions- our Philippine police, our Philippine media, our Philippine government. This is the Philippines we're talking about, not just the Manila Police District, not just ABS-CBN or GMA, not just Noynoy Aquino and his administration.

We stand not to defend them for their wrongs, but to tell the whole world that we will ensure our Philippine police, media and government will be accountable utmostly to us, vigilant citizens of the Philippines, who are proud to call ourselves Filipinos. Our race will not be defined by this incident, our history will not be dictated upon by this failure. We will tell them not all of us are bad, and that we are a naturally hospitable, kind-hearted and peace loving people.

We cannot be in a perpetual and forever state of complaining. We will be actors of change, we will be part of that change, not just through words, but through action.

Let rehabilitation begin. Let wounds heal, and let our hearts listen to the emotional outrage of our HK and chinese brothers and sisters. Let justice run its course, thus we should not put it into our own bare hands. Let peace reign because the citizens of this country, the Filipino's, will not anymore tolerate any disgrace to what our forebearers and heroes fought for, will not permit any dishonor to the nationalism we have upheld by lesson and by virtue.

The Development and Maturation of our country shall only take place if we learn to take accountability, fulfill our responsibility and act swiftly, not just for ourselves, but for the country we love and we've always been proud of, through the good and through the bad.

I am Aaron Benedict De Leon, former Platform Spokesperson of LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD and Presidential Aspirant Gilbert Teodoro, Current Secretary-General of YOUTH Philippines, Corporate Affairs Officer of GREEN TEAM PILIPINAS, but most importantly, FOREVER PROUD BEING A FILIPINO...

NOT NOW!: An Objective take on why SK should NOT be abolished ...

In the current government's efforts to save money and re-channel funds for priority projects, the Aquino administration is looking at the possibility of abolishing the Sangguniang Kabataan, for the simple reason that it wants to save cost. Instead, according to Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, the government will push for "an amendatory law" that would elect one SK representative to the Barangay council rather than elect the full eight-man SK council this coming October.

I would not normally react as our esteemed duly elected representatives of the youth in government do, coming with motherhood statements which say that we are depriving the youth of a voice in government. I've heard that many times, and I'm not going to ride on that bandwagon just to offer token resistance to a somewhat sensible proposal.

HISTORY OF THE SANGGUNIANG KABATAAN

"The Sangguniang Kabataan was born on October 10, 1991 when the President Corazon C. Aquino signed into the law Republic Act 7160 also known as the Local Government Code of 1991 which have been authored by Senator Aquilino "Nene" Pimentel."

The Sangguniang Kabataan commits itself to the survival, protection, development and participation of the youth toward empowerment, and patriotism, achieved through strong partnership between and among the government, private and youth sectors, serving with the degree of professionalism and competence in an atmosphere of unity, solidarity, teamwork and camaraderie."

Okay, those sound good to the ear, but let's evaluate the tangible, measurable performance of our SK officials.

THE PRO'S

In 2009, I remember President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo delivering a speech at the SK National Congress, where she mentioned that the previous administration created the National Youth Service Corps and the Youth Conservation Corps, coordinated by the National Youth Commission, to provide jobs and livelihood opportunities for those aged 18-24. Right now, 15,000 young individuals are captured under the program. That's actually something good, but I hope there's sustainability in the efforts.

THE CON'S

There has been a popular opinion, though, going against the Sangguniang Kabataan, that it has become a breeding ground for corruption in governance. Many argue as well that SK officials are non-performing or have insignificant contribution to the community; most of their projects are building waiting sheds and signages, sports fests or paliga. Another is one is that SK officials cannot perform their function as they have to attend school (or SK officials have to cut schooling just to perform their functions).

Most of the observations came from a study conducted by Marlon Cornelio of the Youth and Students Sector of the National Anti-Povery Commission.

MY IDEA

Having presented some of the main reasons to abolish SK, I seek to provide an objective take on the matter.

First, corruption levels should be measured, not speculated upon. This calls for agencies who conduct research on corruption in government to include levels of corruption in the Sangguniang Kabataan. Unless we have factual manifestations on how corruption is rampant in the SK, our basis is futile and unfounded.

Second, discussions in the plenary on the abolition or reforming of the Sangguniang Kabataan should not only be value laden, but also factual and objective. Why don't we conduct committee hearings to find out the disbursement of funds of the SK, and call on the National President of the SK to defend their use of those in view of their projects? There we can establish and find out where exactly the funds are going, if we are bent on really saving costs while not sacrificing the youth's participation in governance. Based on the committee report, then we can have a holistic take on what should be done to reform the SK or worse, if it is really needed to abolish it.

Third, has there ever been a consultation with other youth groups outside of the Sangguniang Kabataan, in as far as SK Reform Bill is concerned. Of course, the proposal, since it is made by people who are in the system, will be meddled with interests. There has to be an alternative voice, or a voice of reason from the outside, especially that this is governance, not just a school organization matter- which should be consultative, participative.

Fourth, I find the SK Reform Bill lacking in substance. I will enumerate the following points and come up with pieces of evidence to prove such.

• To promote transparency and accountability, the BUDGET of the Sangguniang Kabataan should not follow a LUMP SUM format; rather, it should follow a LINE ITEM BUDGETING FORMAT, where SK councils would have to justify the use of these funds on certain portions of the Appropriated Fund. According to Amendment on Section 2 entitled Barangay Funds of House Bill 1963 filed by Rep. Palatino:
  
  " Section 329. Barangay Funds. – All income of the Barangay DERIVED FROM whatever source shall accrue to its general fund and shall, at the option of the Barangay concerned, be kept as trust fund in the custody of the city or municipal treasurer or be deposited in a bank, preferably government-owned, situated in or nearest to its area of jurisdiction. Such funds shall be disbursed in accordance with the provisions of this Title. Ten percent (10%) of the general fund of the barangay shall be set aside for the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK). THE SANGGUNIANG BARANGAY SHALL APPROPRIATE THE SANGGUNIANG KABATAAN FUND IN LUMP SUM. THE SANGGUNIANG KABATAAN SHALL HAVE FISCAL AUTONOMY IN ITS OPERATIONS AS TO DISBURSEMENTS AND ENCASHMENT OF THEIR INCOME AND EXPENSES."
  
  My question is- how can you give them fiscal autonomy if they do not have the sufficient background on Budgeting in the first place? How can you allow them to appropriate their fund in lump sum if you haven't taught them lessons on FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY?
  
  My counter proposal to have the budget line-itemed is for them to exhaust their efforts in defending, at the proper venue, and justifying the use of these amounts of funds for this particular line item. Here, we train them to research, canvass and learn the art of allocating scarce resources. We are not taking away their right to have a budget for their projects, what we want them to do is to justify the use of these funds, and what social returns would be realized in the conduct of these projects. Some of their projects, for an instance, may just be a duplicate of what non-government organizations or government agencies are doing. In this case, partnerships may have been the best option.
  
  Fiscal Responsibility involves three important components: wise utilization of funds, raised by government from the people, preparing for future and more urgent projects that need heavy funding, and avoiding debt, because we have more than enough.
  
  Managing public money is a matter of public trust, and when we do not have a mechanism to train our SK officials to be fiscally responsible, then we are also betraying the public's trust to capture in law, rules that would govern the behavior of our public officials, even the young SK ones, at that.

• To encourage good performance amongst SK officials, for the year following the implementation of the supposed SK REFORM BILL, the rate (in percentage) to be allocated from the Barangay Fund as SK fund must be defended at the proper venue, perhaps in the City Council, through its duly elected SK City Representative. This is a performance monitoring mechanism, like what head of the department agencies in government are doing when they attend budget deliberation hearings, so that good behavior can be rewarded with higher appropriation, while bad behavior can be assisted by Local Government Units, at a correlative cost of a lesser share in the appropriated Barangay Fund.
  

• We must establish an SK Leaders Academy to ensure that ALL candidates vying for SK positions undergo sufficient training under the supervision of the Department of Interior and Local Government. They must be sufficiently trained where their functions as public officials and youth leaders are made known and are clarified with them, and capacitated to become productive leaders of their community. They should be prepared before their tenure as SK officials, not during their term as public officials. The Sangguniang Kabataan should not be seen as an on the job training for young people, because this is real governance. However, there should be continuity in terms of evaluating and continuously aiding our SK officials with how they govern their respective constituencies. This should be INCLUDED in Section 8, or section 428 of Republic Act 7160, as part of the qualifications to be an elective official of the SK.
  

• I agree with Akbayan's proposition to have an Anti-Dynasty provision in the SK Reform Bill. This must be included in the SK Reform Bill filed by Rep. Palatino.
  

• There should be Internal and External Auditing Provisions in the SK Reform Bill. Morals are not self-made, thus we must manage it by institutionalizing measures to govern those morals. Corruption cannot be prevented at a young age, if there are no safety nets to prohibit such action.

Given these manifestations, I believe the SK Reform Bill should be re-structured first, before it is filed in Congress. There must be sufficient safeguards to protect the integrity of the institution from perpetual allegations of irrelevance, and at the same time, there must be monitoring mechanisms and stick and carrot approaches contained in the provisions to reward good behavior at such young age.

However, I do believe we should not use CUTTING COSTS as a primary reason to deprive our YOUTH from having seats in government. It should cost government social expenses and consequences once we remove the youth's participation in governance. Worse, it will only contribute to the youth's deteriorating interest in joining and participating in government, in the long run.

If we are guided by a well phased, carefully written SK LAW, then I believe the COST is worth the DEVELOPMENT OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE to mobilize social action.

The YOUTH will find ways to be CREATIVE and DYNAMIC, so long as there are institutions that protect their integrity, guide their morals, and safeguard their rights.

A Strong Institution breeds Effective leadership.

AARON BENEDICT DE LEON
2010 LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD Presidential Campaign (Gilbert Teodoro) Platform Spokesperson
Secretary-General, YOUTH Philippines
Corporate Affairs, GREEN TEAM PILIPINAS
http://spokespersonabdl.blogspot.com/

SPEECH: The Farmer- A Model of the Filipino's Human Development...

Since time memorial, from the period of the Spanish Occupation up to today's Aquino regime, farmers' rights and their development has been oppressed, opportunities for personal growth have come far and gone, livelihood reduced to the idea of working more than 10 hours under the heat of the sun for meager alms.

From the many friars who claimed vast lands from our landless farmers, up to the current time of the Hacienda Luisita controversy, our farmers are still fighting the same fight they have fought for more than a century now, and that is their right to own land.

The problem of our farmers is indicative of where the Filipino lies amongst its neighbour countries, when it comes to Human Development. Our development has been stagnant, much affected by political instability in the country, the neglect of policymakers on the importance of agriculture, the technocrats' constricted view of liberalization and the ravage of climate change to our lands.

As of 2009, we are ranked 105th among 182 countries (0.751 HDI-Human Development Index-combination of factors such as life expectancy, education/literacy rate and GDP per capita) when it comes to human development, and worse, 124th out of 182 countries when it comes to GDP per capita (currently pegged at $3,406).

Our farmers, they are best representative of the Filipino people. They can be characterized as hard workers, perseverant, dedicated people, yet they do not have the educational/informed means to elevate themselves from their state of poverty. Some of them cannot afford to send their children to school, thus, they too become farmers, thinking of the same way for their soon to be children, thus a generation of farmers who don't have the avenue to think beyond their self-made convention of everyday living. They try to make do out of the small monuments they receive from a day's hard work, and often end up getting sick, dying later on without access to basic health services. They are often the subject of abuse, and when they organize themselves into groups, their leaders get offered a high price to betray them or if they don't consent, they end up being killed without being brought to the courts of justice, like desaparecidos.

I will not try to historically place this speech, but I will make it more thought empowering, rather than the usual thought inspiring or thought provoking.

NORMATIVE SIDE

Yes, we are into the second decade of the 21st century, and perhaps, the penultimate stage of the age of information. But our world, the farmers' world in the countryside, seems not to be interconnected.

When we come to complain about regular power shortages (brownouts or blackouts), do we even realize that some of our farmers do not even have electricity in their far flung areas? When we come to complain about the lack of a system of education, do we even know that farmers' families do not even have the means to send their children to schooling? When we complain about traffic in many major roads, do we even realize that farmers' do not have the avenue to a road infrastructure to connect them to markets?

Media often does not place it regularly in the headlines, only when there's a problem, a crisis or an impending shortage of basic commodities. Our farmers and their situation are only often used a subject to radiate concern and generate mileage and ratings, to entice isolated, but non-sustainable action from government.

Citizens of the urbanized areas, meanwhile, pity in the disgrace of the less privileged farmers, but do not even try to extend a hand when they are ravaged, most damaged during calamities, where as their contribution when it comes to our food security is so invaluable to our everyday living. Instead, we misdirect our pledges and assistance to those who have two hands that do nothing.

Our Human Development is at its lowest because of our neglect towards the countryside, the inhabitants of our farmlands, the stewards of food production in our country. How many people in farmlands have not been captured by census probes? How many schools are there in the far flung areas? How many people in the rural areas do not have access to public health services? It is not only alarming, it's disgusting.

The noisy urban poor sectors in the country have been an excess baggage in the government funded peasantry and dole out programs, because they have the right to media, and when they carry a constituency with them, politicians are threatened to submit to their whims for their own political survival. But what about those in the rural areas? How about their knowledge on organized efforts? Are they even aware they have that right and avenues can be explored to express their advocacies?

POSITIVE SIDE

From the 1970's up to the 2000's, the annual growth of the agriculture has been in a constant decline, from 5.8 % in the 1970's, 2.4% in the 80's and 2.0% in the 90's, and we are expecting an all-time low from years 2000-2010 because of our importation policy when it comes to some crops and commodities, also known as the agricultural deregulation. The problem with this logic, however, is that it ignores issues on limited access of farmers to technology, market information and rural credit.

Our policies on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization and Small Farmers Development has been hampered by weak funding and is subsumed by the deregulation program and our supposed commitments in the agriculture sector to the WTO and the AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area).

Why is it important that we look at the behavioral and factual approach towards finding the real problems of our farmers? Because positively and normatively (in economic terms), our holistic attack on the problem have failed us for many decades.

Why did I focus on the farmers' state, whereas, I should have been talking about Human Development. Isn't this reflective of our competitive capability, when it comes to Human Development?

FARMERS as a MICROCOSM of the FILIPINO'S HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Just like farmers, no matter how good/skilled Filipino's are naturally, if we do not have the means to education, if we do not have the capability to find alternative livelihood, jobs outside of the popular ones, if we do not have access to basic health coverage, if we do not have sustainable policies on the development of our laborers, then the concept of Human Development would forever be a dream, far away from reality.

Policies that promote opportunity, and not dole outs, should be the ultimate priority of the current government. While it is important to maintain some of the government funded peasantry programs, we have to steer away from a culture of breeding dependency amongst our people.

For example, CARP or CARPER maybe a tool for Social Justice, by giving away lands to our farmers. But unless we give them the managerial capability, the technological expertise, the access to capital they can make profitable, then we also commit an injustice to them, by not providing them distributive justice that is ought to them. To cut cost, so that other funds can be re-channelled to more beneficiaries and to capacitate them to be independent after providing them the sufficient assistance, we ought to promote a program that will 1.) Give them the tools to be agriculturally productive, 2.) Provide other means for them to find alternative livelihood through agro-industrial entrepreneurship, 3.) Monitor their performance and assess what areas they need help more on, and then direct aid in the proper areas. In this way, we are becoming fiscally responsible and teaching them to be independent, until such time they can already sustain for themselves.

This model of assistance should be replicated in other sectors that have been neglected. We cannot afford to be in perpetual state of financing them without realizing the investments' social and economic returns.

We do not want to become overly ambitious with the state of our human development in the country. It would take years, decades to fully realize a developed Filipino people, manifested in behavior and in statistical outputs. But our focus should not only be on the temporal needs of the disparate sectors, rather, our outlook should be modelled towards sustainability which breeds independence.We have the tools to compete with other countries. We have dynamic, intelligent and dedicated people capable of bringing more inflows when it comes to National Wealth. What we need is to cultivate an environment and a culture of SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITY.

Our Human Development relies in the inter-connectedness of the efforts of all stakeholders in society, under one vision- and that is to grow and develop together, to achieve economic prosperity.

"A FARMER, A MAN- FREE FROM THE BONDAGE OF HISTORICAL SLAVERY, and READY FOR THE CHALLENGES OF TODAY'S MODERN SOCIETY."


AARON BENEDICT DE LEON
2010 LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD Presidential Campaign (Gilbert Teodoro) Platform Spokesperson
Secretary-General, YOUTH Philippines
Corporate Affairs, GREEN TEAM PILIPINAS
http://spokespersonabdl.blogspot.com/

Reviving the Institution of a Mandatory ROTC, Revitalizing the IDEA behind Mandatory ROTC...

There are ongoing discussions to repeal the National Service Training Program Law of 2002 and make the ROTC once again mandatory for male college students. The initiative has been welcomed by the AFP leadership, through the pronouncement of its spokesman, Brigadier General Jose Mabanta, reiterating the need for a deployable reserve force.

ROTC was made optional following the death in 2001 of a University of Santo Tomas cadet Mark Chua, who made an exposé on alleged irregularities in the ROTC. This prompted the passage of Republic Act 9163 or the NSTP Law. (http//www.inquirer.net)

Even in the previous administration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro wanted to revive this proposition following the reduction of reserved officers in the military detrimental to national security. He added that the National Defense Act or the Commonwealth Act (CA) 1 requires a large number of reserve force, who maybe called to active service in case of war and national emergencies, because the military cannot afford to have a big number of soldiers

However, there is strong opposition coming from some sectors, claiming that making the ROTC mandatory would open the floodgates for policies of abuse and hazing, and furthermore, poses an unnecessary burden to parents and students. But perhaps the most striking of all is that for some, the ROTC has become a futile exercise that it failed miserably in teaching students the basics of military training.

Both sides actually make sense, and both parties’ present strong contentions as to why the ROTC program should be made or not made mandatory for college students.

Let’s go to the merits of the proposition then.

On January 23, 2002 the National Service Training Program was signed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo into law. Republic Act 9163, the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001 is aimed at enhancing civic consciousness and defense preparedness in the youth by developing the ethics of service and patriotism while undergoing training in any of its three program components: the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, the Civic Welfare Training Service, and the Literacy Training Service. According to RA 9163, these three components are especially designed to enhance the youth’s active contribution to the general welfare.

This basically made ROTC an optional/voluntary course, thus students have the option of taking up CWTS or LTS.

What could be some statistical indicators that prompt a revival of the ROTC program?

It has been claimed by top military personnel and even some civilians that its revival will help bring back a culture of discipline in the country, at the same time, augmenting the country’s military forces.

The next question is, how do you qualify discipline? My best example of a working discipline in the country would be crime incidence amongst our youth, particularly from ages 15 to 18 years old, and how efficient our current programs are in managing discipline in the country.

A good available statistical indicator of that would probably be “total number of 15-18 year old people in conflict with the law”, as reported and served by the DSWD. I got a sample from year 2004, and here is how it goes.

A total of 6,991 cases of crimes committed by Filipino youth offenders, and the worst of that, these are only reported figures. What about the unreported figures? Once it is recorded, expect the number to significantly balloon, if not double.

Another good indicator can be derived by looking at another statistic from Nationmaster Statistics agency for Southeast Asia, indicating that 3,252 out of 6,553 cases of murders were committed by 15-18 year old people, constituting more than half of the total murder rate in the country.

Correlative to that, recent studies from the NSCB show that police power is a robust determinant of crime rates in the country. There are two implications for this: first, the number of policemen is not just really enough to influence crime rates; second, policemen are just inefficient on their job that is why they cannot simply influence the crime rates.

What makes crime worse is that it involves factors beyond law enforcement, economic, social and demographic conditions such as the strength of the family, relationship with the neighborhoods, schools and churches.

I think that if the ROTC will be designed in such a way that it becomes more community-oriented rather than trying to be holistic in nature, then it would really cater to issues of families, neighborhoods and schools. What am I saying?

The main thrust of National defense preparedness can be digested and thrusted into three components: 1) Personal/Self-Defense- protection from petty crimes; 2.) Community-Defense- organizing vigilant citizen’s network 3.) Inter-sectoral Network of Defense- Organizing partnerships between LGU’s, Local Police Force and the Civilian Network.

I think this is where ROTC intervention could be well placed, if the program is properly managed and curriculum is properly designed. Why?

Discipline has something to do with formative learning, and it could be best molded at home and in school. Theology or Religion has a way of shaping that, but there has to be a tangible manifestation and practice of that discipline, and that could be well manifested in the drills/exercises/activities/programs incorporated in the ROTC program.

I agree that there should be no wasted motion, no exhaustive or overfatiguing activities that students should be submitted to, and that every movement should follow a rational and logical framework where students can understand it is indeed necessary in their physical formation.

The “Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC)“ is a program institutionalized under Sections
38 and 39 of Republic Act No. 7077 designed to provide military training to tertiary level students in order to motivate, train, organize and mobilize them for national defense preparedness.

But national defense is not strictly confined to the perspective of external and internal security threats, but it should also involve personal and community defense. This is where the idea of a Reserve Force should evolve, where in it should clearly show that there is a great need to provide a contingency to the lack of police or military force, not to really combat on an armed basis with lawless elements, but to prevent the growth or the opportunities for these lawless networks to develop .

Strategic Planning should be incorporated in the ROTC program to ensure that students are aware and informed on modern techniques to prevent crimes in their respective communities.

Communications Planning is also important, so that we can leverage the development of social media and online journalism in our fight against organized crime in our communities.

Partnership between Local Governments, the Local Police Force, the Barangay and the Citizens’ Network should also be strengthened so that we can easily combat the network of crime, through faster and mobile portals of communication and information sharing.

ROTC should also mesh with the Kinetics/Physical Education programs of colleges to ensure there is no redundancy in their functions. There must be a strong collaboration, in terms of providing a military and a physical education backbone to the art of self defense.

The drills, exercises being done in the ROTC are still relevant, though they must be minimized to allot more time for more practical applications of National Defense Preparation, on all layers I mentioned.

The program should be more community based, and must blend well with the CWTS and LTS courses under the NSTP, so that students would feel that the course is really applicable in real life. The disconnect actually begins when military men start speaking of military definition of national defense, where as there are more pressing issues in the localities/communities that serve as a function of national defense. We cannot be overly ambitious on forming a strong reserve core for a country, but we can take baby steps such as this to see if the long term vision would be applicable.

Discipline is a virtue, but this cannot be simply self-managed. There has to be an institution governing the morals of our people, not just laws that are punitive by nature, but also programs readily available, especially to our youth, to mitigate if not prevent the chances from them committing crimes. It has to be managed under a programmatic structure, well designed, well studied and carefully phased in.

Of course, this will be met again by strong opposition. One of which is that it poses an additional cost to the studies of students. The question I raise to them is, would they mind a marginal increase in the cost of education if they are ensured of an opportunity to reduce their security concerns through informed means, which the ROTC provides, not only benefiting the individual, but the family, the neighborhood and the community? I don't think we should cost cut on safeguards to our right to life and property. Investment in the protection of our human capital is vital in a recovering economy.

The re-institution of the ROTC should never be feared, although it has been tainted with history of hazing, corruption and many others. I think like how we have been vigilant about this present government, our students of today are now as equally as vigilant when it comes to their rights, and our implementing agencies are also aware that they will not easily get away with policies of abuse, considering the renewed attitude of our people.

I agree though, that the revival of the ROTC program must come along with changes, changes in the way the system is governed, changes in the way the curriculum is designed, changes in the way instructors impart wisdom to their students, changes in the way all of the stakeholders see national defense preparedness. The ROTC program must evolve in such a way that while it makes structural reforms, it maintains the tradition of instilling discipline and patriotism amongst our youth. The Structural Reforms have to make the program relevant, not only for the students, but for the higher purpose of its institution.