House bill seeks return of ROTC

The House committee on national defense has received a proposal to restore the mandatory Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) among college students, in place of the lax National Service Training Program (NSTP), an administration lawmaker said yesterday.

Pangasinan Rep. Arthur Celeste said his panel would take up House Bill 309 of Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas that calls for the abolition of NSTP and the restoration of ROTC.

NSTP was created through Republic Act 9163 in 2001.

Gullas, who also belongs to the administration bloc, wants to reinstate mandatory ROTC in all private and public colleges, universities and similar learning institutions, by repealing RA 9163, or the NSTP Act of 2001.

“We will look at the finer points of the bill. I promise that all sides will be heard. I ask student organizations to prepare this early their respective position papers since it is them who will be affected by this measure,” Celeste said.

According to Celeste, NSTP, as compared to ROTC, is shorter, where students only need to finish “one program for two semesters” while ROTC is more rigid, which is a “two-year, four-semester program.”

“NSTP is usually done on Saturdays, ROTC on Sundays, but I often see students loitering in malls during supposedly NSTP days. In ROTC, however, there is control and organization, better training,” Celeste observed.

Unlike NSTP, the Pangasinan congressman said the ROTC program “provides military training and increases the reserve officer corps of the country.”

Celeste said the defense committee has to study thoroughly HB 309, as it means to declare the ROTC as mandatory requirement for graduation for all male students enrolled in colleges and universities, and vocational schools as well.

Under Gullas’ proposed bill, the secretary of national defense, like Gilbert Teodoro, shall direct the conduct of military training for the purpose of producing enlisted and officer reservists.