FORTY-TWO percent of adult Filipinos said the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) should be optional while 35 percent said it should be mandatory for Grade 11 to 12 senior high schools, the March 26 to 29 survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.
The survey, which involved 1,200 adult respondents nationwide with a margin of error of ±2.8 percent, also showed that 22 percent said ROTC should not be included in the curriculum.
Those who said it should be optional added they should be given the right to choose if they prefer to undergo military training or choose community service.
The survey also found that a plurality in Luzon (47 percent), the National Capital Region (46 percent) and Mindanao (42 percent) prefers ROTC to be optional, while a near majority in the Visayas (46 percent) said ROTC should be compulsory for senior high school students.
Twenty-nine percent of those from NCR said ROTC should be compulsory while 22 percent said it should not be in the curriculum.
In the rest of Luzon, 32 percent said ROTC should be compulsory while 21 percent said it should not be in the curriculum.
For 28 percent of Visayans, ROTC should be optional while 25 percent said it should not be included in the curriculum.
SWS said for 34 percent of Mindanaoans, they prefer ROTC to be mandatory while 22 percent said it should not be included in the curriculum.
Several proposed bills are pending in Congress on whether to make ROTC mandatory for senior high school students or to make it optional under the National Service Training Program (NTSP).
