Defense department supports Congress' push for mandatory ROTC

The Department of National Defense (DND) on Saturday said it gives its full support for Congress' push for the enactment of a law calling for mandatory Reserve Officers Training Course (ROTC) in higher education institutions.

"The DND fully supports and greatly appreciates the enthusiasm of our legislators led by Sen. Ronald dela Rosa in pushing for the law and we commit to take an active part in the legislative process through our full cooperation and inputs, whenever and wherever they are needed," Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr. said.

Galvez said the DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in coordination with the Commission on Higher Education and supporting agencies, already have the proposed concept on how the ROTC program will run.

He said the ROTC program can be implemented using a "phased approach".

"We will have pilot and simulation runs in selected universities, while preparing our personnel, logistical and budgetary requirements for its full implementation," Galvez said.

The DND said the implementation can have six phases:

1. Preparation
   • Curriculum development
   • Selection and training of implementers
   • Personnel, logistics and budget planning
   • Selection of pilot volunteer schools based on results of evaluation of their facilities and capacities
2. Pilot programs, simulation in volunteered schools
3. Expansion to different regions
4. Progressive Implementation

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5. Evaluation and further fine-tuning
6. Full implementation in all schools.

The DND said the projected timeline from enactment of the law for mandatory ROTC program to initial implementation is two to three years.

Meanwhile, it projects that full implementation can be done in five years.

"The DND and AFP also intend to harness the expertise of the Regional Community Defense Groups (RCDGs) of the Philippine Army, Air Reserve Centers (ARCENs) of the Philippine Air Force, and Naval Reserve Centers (NRCENs) of the Philippine Navy all over the country in managing the ROTC program," the Defense department said.

“We assure Senator dela Rosa and our distinguished lawmakers that we will be ready to start the program when the law is passed and it will be diligently implemented in coordination with our partner agencies and institutions including the private sector organizations in order to ensure its success,"  Galvez said.

At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Defense Undersecretary Franco Gacal raised the issues about logistics, manpower, and resources if the ROTC would be made compulsory.

Gacal said 9,000 to 10,000 military personnel would be needed to provide four officials per school, assuming that there were 2,400 higher education institutions that will implement the ROTC.

Dela Rosa on Friday said he is considering tapping reservists and increasing the quota on the military recruitment to have the manpower needed to implement the proposed mandatory ROTC in higher education institutions.

He expressed confidence that they would be able to fund the program considering that the mandatory ROTC is one of the priority measures under the Marcos administration.

House Bill No. 6687 or the National Citizens Service Training Program Act was certified urgent by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. —KG, GMA Integrated News