Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. is in favor of reviving the mandatory Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program for Grade 11 and 12 students.
The integration of ROTC into the senior high school curriculum in all public and private schools, according to Defensor, would train students not only for national defense preparedness but also for disaster response.
“It is very important to have a disaster response component to the ROTC given that we experience many calamities in this country,” he said.
In his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. urged Congress to pass a law requiring students to undergo military training under the ROTC program.
“The aim is to motivate, train, organize, and mobilize students for national defense preparedness, including disaster preparedness and capacity building for risk-related situations,” he said.
The mandatory ROTC was abolished in 2002 after the death of University of Santo Tomas student Mark Chua, whose killing was linked to his exposé on the anomalies in the training corps.IMT
