More use for rotc service

The importance of a citizen armed force is given new meaning by Benjamin Vallejo Jr., PhD, one of our readers who had recently sent his views on our column last Oct. 31 (“Defending Sovereignty”). Please read on.

“One of the major national security issues that face the Philippines and neighboring countries is massive environmental changes that can cause the displacement of hundreds of thousands if not millions of citizens.

“As of this writing, metropolitan Bangkok is now being inundated by massive monsoon floods and the engineering interventions made by the Thai government in the last 20 years of rapid economic development are proving of very little use. The Prime Minister of Thailand, Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, has to call on the Thai armed forces to offer relief and rescue.

“Like the Philippines, the massive evacuation of thousands of citizens is a logistical challenge that will tax the capacity of the government of Thailand. However, the Kingdom of Thailand is in a much better position to respond. Why?

“The Armed forces of the ASEAN countries have seen improvements in training, equipment and recruitment. These countries’ armed forces have enough strength to call in times of national environmental emergency.

“One factor is that political threats to the ASEAN countries have been neutralized by reforms in society. This was made possible by rapid economic growth and a nuanced and calculated approach to democratic reform.

“The ASEAN nations did not reject democratic reforms per se as misconstrued by ‘democratic’ Philippines. Democratic reforms were nuanced in the context of these countries’ political cultures, all of which were affected by European and American imperialism.

“The information I have says that Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia Indonesia, Laos, and Vietnam have compulsory military service for citizens 18 years old and above (Laos conscripts men and women at 15 years of age).

“Indonesia does not have the draft but its constitution authorizes the President to call for one if there is a national emergency. Thailand has a random draft call. Vietnam has national service. Singapore and Malaysia have a continuous call for national service.

Philippines is exception

“The Philippines is the only one among this list that does not have compulsory national service.

“The value of national service is that the armed services can identify suitable men and women for recruitment into the professional armed services. A larger proportion may serve in the reserves while the rest will serve in their respective civilian roles.

“I have blogged about the problems that the AFP has now because of national service being downgraded and will encounter if the ROTC is made mandatory once more. (http://blackshama.blogspot.com/2010/08/rotc-mandatory-for-males-no-way.html)

“One end result of our national service policy is that the average age of the Filipino soldier is in his/her late 30s (a Marine officer told me it is around 37), hardly the best age at which to respond to national emergencies such as environmental catastrophe.

AFP not adequate

“This, compounded by an ill equipped AFP and – if the defense pundits are correct – slipping training standards (which may have led to recent casualties) makes it unlikely that the AFP can adequately respond to environmental emergencies.

“Personally, I have seen this since I do environmental work with some services of the AFP.

“The truth is that the professional armed forces can never be enough to respond to these emergencies. Since these emergencies are of the civil kind, only a well-equipped and trained citizen armed forces can adequately fill the need.

“Sadly, with the ‘killing’ of ROTC by a reactive Congress and the Arroyo administration, there are hardly any cadets who can respond to the needs of citizens in these situations. We have seen it in typhoon Ondoy in 2009 where ROTC cadets could have filled in on certain relief operations that are suited to their level of training.

JSDF role in Japan

“The great earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March 2011 is particularly instructive. A large majority of Japanese citizens (77 percent) view the Japan Self Defense Forces (JSDF) as essential to responding to disasters and other environmental catastrophes.

 “Thus the training of the JSDF has focused on this aspect aside from its external defense functions. As a result of the pacifist Japanese constitution, the JSDF is legally a civilian service and thus can be considered as a citizen army.

“The JSDF is the first armed service in history where almost all of the authorized strength was mobilized by the Prime Minister of Japan to serve in disaster relief.

“Here is the official blurb: The JSDF began its search and rescue and relief operation only hours after the earthquake and tsunami. On March 13, Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered the mobilization of 100,000 JSDF personnel. As of March 17, approximately 76,000 JSDF troops had been deployed from JSDF bases throughout Japan and are engaged in activities such as search, rescue and recovery and the transport and distribution of relief supplies. 

“The JSDF is Asia’s best equipped armed force. The Prime Minister of Japan as Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese armed services was able to mobilize the JSDF within two days.

“If such an event happens in the Philippines, I do not think the Armed Forces of the Philippines can respond in such magnitude since the AFP has been historically underfunded and given the cultural traits of Filipino society when faced with national crises, a citizen army is essential in maintaining order.

 “The sure thing is that such an event will happen and the only thing the Philippines can do is to prepare its citizens. The nation needs a strong citizen army to guarantee its national survival.”

National Collegiate Championship update

Champions League (PCCL) Sweet 16 Finals “knock-out losers go home” games start tomorrow at the FilOil Flying V Arena, San Juan. Game time is 2 p.m. with University of Northern Philippines Sharks, winner of the North-Central Luzon regional games, colliding with highly-fancied National University Bulldogs. The main game will showcase the University of Batangas Brahmans, the South Luzon-Bicol champion against the rejuvenated DLSU Green Archers.

Both games are covered live by ABS-CBN Sports and will be aired over Studio 23.

For more details, visit www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net.

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Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.