CHED: Slay of Iloilo student not ROTC-related

The killing of a student in Dumangas, Iloilo on Monday is not related to the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program, officials have clarified.

“I don’t know why it is being twisted into an antiROTC propaganda,” Prospero de Vera III, Commission on Higher Education head and chairman of the board of

regents at the Iloilo State College of Fisheries (ISCF), told The STAR.

Elmer Decilao, 24, a former ROTC officer, was arrested for allegedly killing Willy Amihoy, 23, at the ISCF dormitory on Monday.

De Vera said Decilao is a graduating education student while Amihoy is a first year education student majoring in bioscience.

Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, Army public affairs office chief, slammed criticisms of the ROTC program over the incident, noting that the ROTC program is focused on making responsible citizens.

“It is inaccurate that the assailant... is an ROTC commander. He was an ROTC officer in 2017, but is no longer an ROTC officer at the time of the incident,” Zagala said during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay weekly forum yesterday.

According to a police report, Decilao accused Amihoy of stealing his wallet. The suspect allegedly hit Amihoy with a steel pipe in the head following an argument.