SAN JOSE, Antique – The Antique Provincial Police Office (APPO) has expressed its support to the proposed bill that will make the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) mandatory for Grades 11 and 12 students.
Lieutenant Colonel Norby Escobar, APPO director for deputy operations, said he favors making the ROTC mandatory because it could “help mold proper discipline among students.”
He said the individuals, who have developed self-discipline could have a brighter future, with better discernment of certain issues and could not be easily swayed by undisciplined peers.
Escobar also hopes there would be no hazing during the mandatory ROTC but should just mold the trainees to become better individuals. “I just do hope that there would be no hazing in the ROTC,” he said.
He said that instead of hazing, ROTC officers could let their trainees do purely physical exercises as one way of disciplining the cadets.
President Rodrigo Duterte during his State of the Nation Address last July 22 said that there is a need for the immediate revival of the ROTC despite the objection of some sectors.
He added that the passage of House Bill (HB) No. 2613, or the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) Act should have to be prioritized.
ROTC, which was previously implemented at the college level, was scrapped in 2002 because of an investigation on the murder of a University of Santo Tomas student after he exposed alleged corruption in the program.
Meantime, seven major service academies will showcase their military discipline in the first Presidential Silent Drill Competition organized by the Office of the President, Presidential Security Group in coordination with the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines through the Office of the Reservist and Retiree Affairs.
The silent drill competition will be participated in by contingents from the Philippine Military Academy, Philippine National Police Academy, Philippine Merchant Marine Academy, Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific, Philippine Army Officer Candidate School, Philippine Navy Officer Candidate School, and Philippine Air Force Officer Candidate School.
The competition highlights this year’s ROTC Summit that will be staged at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila.
It will be attended by about 2,500 ROTC cadets from selected colleges and universities and uniformed personnel.
The event is a prelude to the ROTC Unit’s three-leg Silent Drill Competitions in March 2020. (With a report from PNA/PN)
