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