Cayetano more in favor of mandatory ROTC for college level

Contrary to the proposal of President Rodrigo Duterte, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano is more inclined to make the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program mandatory for college students instead of those in the senior high school level.

"I'm more in favor of a more hybrid one for college because everyone of us [has] different abilities," Cayetano told ANC in an interview on Monday.

"For example, the United Kingdom, sa kanila meron na sila sa military nasa cyber warfare hindi na sa traditional," he added.

The revival of mandatory ROTC for Grades 11 and Grade 12 is one of the priority legislative measures of the President that he wants the Congress to work on his last three years in office.

At least 10 measures for this purpose have been filed in the 18th Congress, while eight others want mandatory ROTC for college students.

Members of the progressive Makabayan Bloc, however, have opposed to such measures, saying that it would only further propagate the culture of violence and abuse among students.

The House of Representatives in the 17th Congress approved such measure, but it did not get the same approval in the Senate.

Duterte had long wanted to revive the ROTC, saying that he would even consider issuing an executive order for it. —Erwin Colcol/KBK, GMA News