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.
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.
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