MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino wants more male students to enroll in the Reserve Officers’ Training Course (ROTC) and for military reservists to provide assistance during calamities.
“It is important that the youth are encouraged to take up ROTC,” the President said during the 17th national convention of National ROTC Alumni Association at Camp Aguinaldo Friday afternoon.
The President noted the dwindling number of ROTC enrollees since it is no longer mandatory.
The Chief Executive said that from more than 800,000 in school year 1999 to 2000, the number of ROTC enrollees dropped to less than 150,000 in 2011.
In the first quarter of 2011, more than 500 colleges and universities offered the ROTC program, compared to the 2,000 schools offering the program before the adoption of the National Service Training Program.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has 120,000 military reservists or “weekend warriors” on active status and 50,000 on standby.
They are called weekend warriors because they are either self-employed or employed and required to report to undergo basic and advance military training only on weekends at the AFP Reserve Command in Camp Aguinaldo.
Members of the reserve force also undergo conventional and unconventional warfare and anti-guerrilla operations as well as combat and service support training.
Aside from ensuring a reserve force in times of uncertainty, the President said reservists are partners in disaster risk reduction and management, relief and rescue, and peace efforts through the Internal Peace and Security Plan.
The President said reserve officers also play a significant role in bridging the gap between the people and the military leadership. Being civilians, he said reserve officers could easily convey the message of the armed forces to the people for the benefit of the country.
The AFP deploys active military personnel – about 125,000 officers and men from the Army, Air Force and Navy – to calamity and disaster areas.
Department of National Defense spokesman Peter Paul Galvez said the President has ordered the AFP to strengthen the ROTC program in all colleges and universities nationwide.
Galvez said the President acknowledges the pivotal role of the reserve force in disaster mitigation activities as well as during search, rescue and relief operations in disaster-stricken areas. – Jaime Laude, Aurea Calica