Zubiri to vote in favor of ‘modified’ ROTC program bill

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri will vote in favor of the bill reinstating the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program, adding that the upper chamber will legislate a “modified” program that will “suit modern-day training.” 

In a television interview, Zubiri shared that he also went through the ROTC program and learned a lot from it despite being tagged as “tisoy na anak mayaman (a rich kid with good looks).”

“Dumaan din ako sa putik, dumaan din ako sa martsa (I'd experienced mud and marches) and it grounded me and I think I learned a lot from that experience and it made me a better person,” Zubiri said in an ANC interview.

“So if you’re gonna ask me…my personal vote is ‘yes.’ I will vote in favor of ROTC,” he added.

While he was a principal author of the National Service Training Program Law, Zubiri admitted that it has “many loopholes.”

“Ang dami kong kilala na hindi sila nagserbisyo sa NSTP. Nagpalakas lang po sila sa isang [organization] at doon nila minasahe nila ang mga lider ng [organization] para bigyan sila ng passing rate sa NSTP. So maraming nakakalusot and they learned nothing. Unfortunately, that is the norm,” Zubiri said.

(I know a lot of people who did not render service in NSTP. They just sucked up to an organization and its leaders to give them a passing rate in NSTP.)

As Senate chief, Zubiri said senators agreed to vote on the measure based on their conscience.

“We made it a conscience vote… because I know some members might feel strongly against it. So, I said if that’s the way you feel then let’s make it a conscience vote,” he said.

He then stressed the importance of the ROTC program that will keep up with modern warfare such as cybersecurity.

“Ang akin lang d’yan (my take on it) is how to improve the ROTC, not only to keep it just into marching and shooting once a year,” Zubiri said, as he noted the suggestion of Senator Pia Cayetano to train against cyberattacks individuals who are considered “computer genius.”

“If you are a computer genius you don’t have to march in the field, you carry a Garand and do all this exhibition and all. You can stay in the office and the school and you can be part of the cyberwarfare class and you can be in an airconditioned room and that’s your expertise,” he said.

“So, it’s not necessarily the old, stereotype ROTC,”  he added. “It will be modified to suit modern-day training.”

The bill reviving the mandatory ROTC program is currently being debated in the Senate plenary. It is one of the priority measures of the Marcos administration.

The mandatory ROTC program was scrapped in 2002 following the passage of Republic Act 9163, which established the NSTP.

This came after the March 2001 killing of University of Santo Tomas student Mark Wilson Chua, allegedly by his ROTC handlers, after he had exposed the corruption in the ROTC Corps.

Several officials have pushed for the mandatory ROTC, including Vice President Sara Duterte and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian. —KBK, GMA Integrated News