For discipline’s sake, bring back the ROTC!

The Star headline last Monday blared "House Resumes Cha-cha Push." Knowing the plans of House Speaker Jose de Venecia and former President Fidel Ramos, their kind of Cha-cha is all about shifting only to a parliamentary system because it supposedly solves the problem of gridlock that we are experiencing today. Well, if they didn’t know, Thailand is also a parliamentary form of government and just take a good look at what’s happening to Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra; then maybe, just maybe, they would realize that if we’re going for a parliamentary form of government without the counter balance of a federal form of government, we’re headed once more in the wrong direction! So there’s still time for Speaker de Venecia to refocus his cha-cha before it’s too late!

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Sunday evening, we had a pleasant dinner with Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz who was in town to grace the closing ceremonies of the 1st National Army ROTC Corps Commanders Convention. Of course, since it was a cold Sunday in Cebu, we didn’t discuss any serious matters but Secretary Cruz merely repeated what he said at the Makati Business Club about the events that transpired a couple of Fridays ago, which led to the declaration of a state of emergency.

One thing that Secretary. Cruz mentioned that I haven’t heard before was that… "soldiers are given arms to defend our country but in exchange for the loss of certain freedoms. If some soldiers want to speak out, they should lay down their arms first." I can’t say that I disagree with this observation. I wouldn’t go on any debate with a man holding a gun because who knows if that person may just use his gun to win the debate.

There is no question that there are just too many soldiers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who have become too politicized, though in truth, they are still a minority and the majority of our soldiers still follow the chain of command. These are the soldiers whom we salute, not the ones who help the desperate opposition short-cut our democratic process.

While at dinner, I took the opportunity to brag to the Defense Secretary Cebu’s capability to build naval ships for the Philippine Navy and gave him a CD of the capabilities of FBMA Marine Inc. Of course, the DND Secretary told me that he already knew of what we’ve been doing here in Cebu… so it is really a matter of prioritizing the needs of the AFP. If you ask me, this archipelagic nation needs a Navy to protect our coasts and we’ve ran out of excuses on why we can’t have the ships built. I hope this can be given priority in the Philippine Defense Reform Program.

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Prior to the 1st National Army ROTC Corps Commanders Convention, I attended a presscon called by Col. Guillermo Luyao (GSC) PA, Col. Angel Ocubillo (Res), Col. Coffering Layao (Res), Lt. Cresencio Rocamora (Res), Maj. Richard Sison (Res), Maj. Soliver Peras (Res) and Maj. Samson Deles who heads the ROTC program in Cebu, and I was given a document entitled, "Clear and Present Danger of the ROTC Program" which elucidates the dangers that Republic Act No. 9163, known as the National Service Training Program (NSTP), has done to the country, which virtually removed ROTC as a subject in our educational system.

Let me point out that I was always against this law and I have vehemently insisted that the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) is the only subject that teaches our school kids patriotism. Instead, this was removed and in its place a community service program was instituted, which in other countries is a punishment for first-time criminal offenders! Call it adding insult to injury!

If there is no discipline being taught in the schools today, it is due to the absence of the only subject that deals with discipline. Gads, even the Scout Masters of the Boy Scouts today are restrained from barking out their orders to the troop… they are asked to replace it with pleeezz! Let me point out that the ROTC was removed because of corruption in its system. However, as Maj. Dick Sison said, "you don’t cut off your head because you have a headache!" and I fully agree with his observation.

President sArroyo should have addressed the problem of corruption in the ROTC, instead of making it voluntary. In other countries, military service is even compulsory and military training in schools is part and parcel of the growth of their youth. We have lost this already, just like our ability to speak good English! I support the call to restore the ROTC for as long as they fix what‘s wrong with it, including training our youths to use wooden rifles. The ROTC here is another Pinoy tragedy!

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I would like to announce the passing away of one of my dearest friends in Manila, Mr. Josefino "Joey" Pineda, who succumbed to a rare illness called Myasthemia Gravis last Sunday March 5,2006. If Joey hasn’t been heard of in almost six years, that’s because he was in a coma since April 2000. Joey Pineda made an impact in the Film Industry when he was the President of the Independent Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of the Philippines (IMPIDAP) and the Kapisanan ng mga Sinehan sa Pilipinas (KASIPIL). He was also one of the original advocates against Film Piracy as a member of the Anti-Film Piracy Council of the Philippines, ringing the alarm bells that years later would prove to be the downfall of our local film industry today.

I will not forget the time when Joey urged his friends in the Tagalog film industry to prepare against the onslaught of Film Piracy in the heydays of Betamax and VHS tapes, which were already raiding the American Film Industry. But then the Tagalog film producers in those days believed that only American films would be pirated. How wrong they were!

I consider Joey Pineda as the last of the rare breed of film bookers, which in those days was practically an art. But he was always a man of principle, a handshake preferred to a written contract. My family’s heartfelt condolences to his bereaved wife Angie and their children, Mic Mic, Jic Jic, Mary Clare and Megabar. He lies in state at the Arlington Memorial homes on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City. Internment will be announced later. May we request the pious reader to please pray for the repose of his soul.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow entitled, "Straight from the Sky" every Monday in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8:00 p.m.