ROTC cadets as election inspectors?

If Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. would have his way, Reserved Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets could earn "credits" by serving as members of boards of election inspectors.

Abalos said he supports the education department’s proposal to make the role of teachers in electoral exercises "optional" but this requires an amendment to the law mandating their poll duties.

ROTC cadets, he said, are now also involved in civic work, which makes his plan appropriate.

But Christina Palabay, secretary-general of the National Union of Students of the Philippines, opposed the plan, saying students would be exposed to the "senseless, violent and corrupt program of the ROTC and the electoral process." — Sandy Araneta, Sheila Crisostomo