DND favors ROTC for youth’s military training

THE Department of National Defense (DND) on Thursday threw its support behind a proposal for mandatory military training for young Filipinos, but stressed that the Reserve Officer Training Course, ROTC, is a “much better” option.

“The implementation of mandatory ROTC in private and public schools is the better alternative. We are already starting to implement this in State Universities and Colleges,” Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana said in a statement released through Defense spokesman Arsenio “Popong” Andolong.

“This program, which targets the K11 to K12 levels, will produce a huge number of youths who will form part of our reservists,” Lorenzana added.

Tussle

THE defense chief’s statement came amid a high profile tussle between vice presidential aspirant Mayor Sara Duterte-carpio and senatorial candidate Walden Bello, who linked her proposal for a mandatory military service for Filipino youths to the history of the late strongman former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., and to the perceived “dictatorial tendencies” of her father, President Duterte.

“If only he [Bello] wasn’t so quick to react, he would have realized that

I also emphasized the need for the youth to be prepared for disasters and become proactive community partners in rescue operations and in aiding victims of calamities,” Duterte-carpio said.

“I truly hope that our youth do not grow up to be a Walden Bello—an ungrateful citizen who sleeps peacefully at the comfort of their homes, unable to say prayer or a silent ‘thank you’ to the men and women who became martyrs while countering violent extremism, insurgency, and terrorism,” Duterte-carpio said.

In his earlier social-media post, Bello accused the mayor of being “like father, like daughter.”

“Duterte’s legacy was to arm people and tell them to kill. Now his daughter wants to do it to the youth as well,” he said.

“Sara Duterte’s pledge to use the OVP [Office of the Vice President] to promote mandatory military service reveals her for the dictator-inwaiting she is, and tells us that she will be no different from Duterte Sr.,” Bello added.

Lorenzana said he is supporting mandatory military training for the youth because of its advantages, which include a “ready and steady trained pool of reservists to defend the country and do HADR [humanitarian assistance and disaster response] work.”

Also, the training and discipline that young Filipinos will acquire “will make them better citizens” while inculcating in them service to the country.

Challenges

HOWEVER, the defense chief said there are “huge” challenges in implementing the mandatory training, foremost of which are funding and resources.

“Training camps would need to be established all over the land, and manpower and funds must be allocated to accommodate the millions who will reach the age of 18 every year,” he said.

There’s also “the anticipated objections of those who are not inclined to serve in the military.”

Lastly, Lorenzana said the country is “not on war footing and there will be little need of a general mobilization.”

“We feel that the products of the ROTC program are more than sufficient to meet our requirements for warm bodies in case of conflict and in times of calamities and disasters,” he said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) originally pitched the proposal for mandatory training for Filipinos.

“We welcome the proposal as this is attuned to the times while government is faced with adversities and challenges, aligned with our aspirations for the citizenry to contribute to nation building,” the AFP said through its spokesman Col. Ramon Zagala.

“Rendering mandatory military service will only help us to establish base for a strong Armed Forces, and therefore a strong nation,” it added.

Civic consciousness

DEPUTY Speaker and Buhay Partylist Rep. Lito Atienza strongly disagrees with the proposal of Duterte-carpio for people 18 years and above to undergo military training.

“I strongly object to this proposal. This is a step in the wrong direction. Rather than giving them military training, we should strengthen their civic consciousness and capability to respond to problems that affect the nation and Filipinos in general. We have already finally dispensed with the mandatory military training in the past, realizing that it is of no real use developing the youth towards this end. We are constantly visited by weather disturbances and severe climate conditions such as typhoons, landslides, earthquake and the like. We should be molding our youth today to become more conscious of their civic duties and become better citizens,” Atienza said.

Atienza pointed out that we have already finished the geo-hazard maps showing disaster prone areas around the country, but government has not properly utilized it.

“By not using the geo-hazard maps we had prepared, the country is almost always caught flatfooted and unprepared, simply because of the lack of effort from the national government to harness volunteerism and civic action in times of crisis. We have severe typhoons constantly visiting the country like ‘Yolanda’ and ‘Ondoy,’ and the latest example of this is the destruction wrought by Typhoon Odette on several provinces. We can be better prepared if we add a little more training for the youth of today and give them a bigger role in disaster preparedness. Military training is not the answer,” Atienza added.

He also questioned “why should our young graduates be made to perform the task of defending the country when we have trained soldiers who are tasked to handle the country’s military needs.”

“This is an added burden on the youth. What we should be doing instead is to harness the youth’s strength, energy and capabilities in sports and cultural development,” he said.

Absurd proposal

IN a separate news statement, Akbayan’s First Nominee Perci Cendaña said, “This proposal is absurd, unfair and irrelevant. Nasa gitna tayo ng pandemiya tapos ito plano ni Sara?”

“It only serves to whitewash his father’s cowardice to China. For the last five years, Sara’s father bowed down to China and its interests. The Duterte administration has done precious little to assert our sovereignty and territorial integrity in the West Philippine Sea. And now after failing in its duty, the government’s vice presidential bet wants future generations to make up for their treachery by imposing compulsory military service?” Cendaña, who was also a former Commissioner of the National Youth Commission, asked.