ILOILO City – The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) and the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) of the Philippine Army support President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s plan for a mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program for senior high school students.
PRO-6 director Brigadier General Flynn Dongbo said ROTC will instill discipline among the youth and make them responsible citizens.
For his part, 3ID commander Major General Benedict Arevalo said ROTC teaches “real patriotism.”
“From the ROTC we will have a reserve forces capacitated to defend the country and even help during calamities,” Arevalo said.
Marcos, during his State of the Nation Address on Monday, proposed to reinstitute the ROTC and the National Service Training Program (NSTP) as mandatory for Grade 11 and 12 students in all public and private institutions.
“The aim is to motivate, train, organize, and mobilize the students for national defense preparedness, including disaster preparedness and capacity building for risk-related situations,” Marcos said.
The ROTC, a military training program, was made optional under the National Service Training Program (NSTP) in 2001 in response to fatal hazing activities./PN
