ROTC REVIVAL A Marine trains a group of students enrolled in the Reserve Officers鈥� Training Corps (ROTC) on how to handle a rifle. 鈥擬ARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Several senators on Friday voiced support for calls to drop the proposed revival of the mandatory Reserve Officers鈥� Training Corps (ROTC) following the hazing death of Adamson University student John Matthew Salilig, after undergoing the 鈥渨elcoming rites鈥� of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity.
鈥淪crap the bill making ROTC mandatory,鈥� Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III told reporters, adding that it should just be 鈥渙ptional鈥� to those who want to pursue a military career.
READ: 17 face raps in Adamson student鈥檚 hazing death
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, a Tau Gamma member, said having active and reserve military officers was not an assurance that students would be protected from physical abuse and violence while undergoing ROTC training.
He cited the killing of Mark Welson Chua, a University of Santo Tomas student who was murdered in 2001 after he exposed the corruption and other irregularities committed by ROTC officers in his school.
Chua鈥檚 family, he lamented, had yet to secure justice for his tragic killing until now.
鈥淭au Gamma, which I am a part of, has been implementing a 鈥榥o-contact鈥� policy for many years now. Yet we鈥檙e all shocked that this happened [to Salilig],鈥� Villanueva said in a Zoom press briefing.
READ: Youths push for expanding NSTP instead reviving mandatory ROTC
Besides, Villanueva said Congress had passed two laws鈥攖he National Service Training Program Act of 2001 and the GMRC (Good Manners and Right Conduct) and Values Education Act of 2017鈥攖o instill discipline among Filipino youth.
鈥淎re these laws not enough to attain what we want under the proposed mandatory ROTC? Until I see the very important components of the proposed measure, I will not throw my support [behind its passage],鈥� the Senate leader said.
鈥淎s of now, I have to say I have reservations [about the measure]. After what happened to my fraternity brother (Salilig), my reservations were further strengthened,鈥� he added.
鈥楴o compelling justification鈥�
Senator Risa Hontiveros said the call to set aside the move to bring back the mandatory ROTC training has become 鈥渆ven clearer鈥� after Salilig鈥檚 murder.
鈥淭here is no compelling justification to revive the mandatory ROTC program,鈥� Hontiveros said.
READ: Senators split on calls to scrap mandatory ROTC bid after hazing death
Senator Nancy Binay also shared the views of her colleagues as she maintained that ROTC training 鈥渄oes not have the sole franchise to teach discipline and love of country.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 so hard to understand, align and reconcile love of country with a training course that is flawed to the core. It鈥檚 also hard to explain why the supposed 鈥榯radition of discipline鈥� accounts for a long list of hazing cases,鈥� Binay said.
But Senators Ronald dela Rosa and Sherwin Gatchalian, the two main proponents in the Senate of the ROTC training revival, both rejected the arguments of their colleagues, with the latter insisting that military training would help 鈥渋nculcate discipline and good citizenship among the youth.鈥�
READ: Dela Rosa hits rallyists vs mandatory ROTC: 鈥楬alata naman, mga pula winawagayway鈥�
鈥淚t is precisely incidents like these that ROTC intends to eliminate by molding our youth to respect our country and one another,鈥� said Gatchalian, apparently discounting the fact that fraternity-related violence and hazing had been prevalent even when ROTC was still mandatory.
鈥淭he [proposed] law is airtight and equipped with safeguards that will prevent abuses from happening,鈥� he said.
Dela Rosa, on the other hand, said Salilig鈥檚 death was not related to the efforts to require students undergo military training, saying it was a 鈥渄esperate move from antiROTC leftist groups鈥� that wanted to 鈥渆xploit鈥� the hazing incident.
鈥淲hat is the connection? The victim died because of fraternity hazing and not [due to] ROTC training,鈥� Dela Rosa argued.
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