17th Congress can't pass mandatory ROTC bill? No problem, says Palace

Malacañang said on Tuesday it would not mind if lawmakers would not be able to pass the bill seeking a mandatory Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program in public and private senior high schools at the close of the 17th Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri has said they did not have enough time to deliberate the bill and other proposed measures certified as urgent by the Palace.

President Rodrigo Duterte certified the ROTC bill as urgent only on Monday, a day before the 17th Congress adjourns its session.

"If it lacks time, there is another new Senate coming up so I don’t think that’s a problem," presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said at a news conference.

"I think the members of the Senate also like this particular bill."

The 18th Congress will open on July 22 with Duterte retaining majority support in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Duterte and proponents of the ROTC bill view the program's revival as means to inculcate nationalism, patriotism and discipline among Filipino youth. Critics of the ROTC program led by the Kabataan party-list said it will only teach blind obedience among students.

Panelo defended the ROTC program, drawing from his experiences as a college student.

"I don’t think so, because when I was in college I underwent Reserved Officer(s) Training Corps [program]. You’re taught there how to handle firearms, how to have discipline; you are lectured on many things even on laws, even on history," he said.

"I share the view that all citizens, able bodied citizens of the Philippines, male kahit na female should be required to have compulsory military training for our own security."

The Palace official also said young people already lacked discipline because of continued use of electronic gadgets. —KBK, GMA News