UNLINE his predecessor, Vice President Sara Duterte, Education Secretary Sonny Angara yesterday distanced the department from the government’s plan to revive the Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC).
Angara said the proposal to revive the mandatory reserve military training, which was supported by Duterte, does not involve students in basic education.
“I think both (the) House of Representatives and Senate bills cover post-secondary education, meaning college and technical-vocational institutions,” Angara replied when sought for comment on the statement of Senate majority leader Francis Tolentino that the renewed push to reintroduce ROTC training for college students would be a big help in instilling strong love for the country amid the growing tension between Manila and Beijing over the West Philippine Sea.
Angara said the House bill passed in December 2022 for the institutionalization of a National Citizens Service Training (NCST) program will be implemented by the Commission on Higher Education in all public and private higher education institutions (HEIs) and by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in all post-secondary technical-vocational institutions, while the Senate version which provides for mandatory ROTC covers tertiary students in HEIs as well as vocational institutions.
The ROTC was discontinued in the wake of the public outcry generated by the murder of University of Sto. Tomas student Mark Welson Chua, who was killed in 2001 after he exposed alleged corrupt practices within the university’s ROTC ranks.
