DAVAO CITY (November 27)- Congress representative Ruffy Biazon, senior vice chair of the house national defense committee said that mandatory military training among students will “inculcate patriotism, service and discipline among the youth.
In a statement, Biazon said he joins President Duterte in his move to revive the ROTC. As early as July 2016, Biazon has filed HB No. 1260, proposing the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte hinted that he might issue an executive order (EO) making the ROTC program mandatory for Grades 11 and 12 (senior high school) students if Congress failed to act on it soon.
HB 1260 sought to amend Republic Act No. 9163, or the National Service Training Program Act of 2001, to include ROTC as a mandatory part of the curricula for baccalaureate degree courses and two-year technical or vocational courses in state colleges and universities and technical and vocational institutions.
The ROTC program was made optional in 2001 due to cases of corruption and death of a cadet whistle blower.  On Jan. 23, 2002, Republic Act 9163 or the National Service Training Program Act of 2001, was passed into law, allowing college students to choose between ROTC, Literacy Training Service and Civil Welfare Training Service as part of their required National Service Training Program (NSTP).- Jiann Padillo/ NewsLine
