IN line with President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncement that the Reserve Officers Training Corps program should be revived to “instill patriotism and love of country among our youth”, the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Culture tackled House Bills 5097, 5113 and 8651 all seeking the revival of ROTC for Grades 11 and 12 (senior high school) in public and private schools nationwide. House Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu (Author of HB 5113), appealed to the House Leadership to pass the Mandatory ROTC bill, which he said is “aimed at promoting the prime duty of the government to serve and protect the people”.
A counterpart bill has been introduced in the Senate (SB 189) by Senator Emmanuel D. Pacquiao. Under HB 5113, the mandatory two-year Basic ROTC program for Grades 11 and 12 will form part of the basic curricula for senior high school education and is a requisite for graduation, in pursuance of the provisions of the National Defense Act and the 1987 Constitution, “with the objective of producing well-trained and preserved reservists for military and civic service” (Section 3 [a]). Exempted from ROTC are (a) those who are certified by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Surgeon General to be physically or psychologically unfit; (b) those who have undergone or are undergoing similar military training; and (c) those who may be exempted from training for valid reasons approved by the Department of National Defense upon recommendation of the student’s school (Section 4).
Generally, HB 5113 will introduce basic military training for students in order to motivate, train, organize and utilize them for national defense preparedness or civil-military operations. Its principal author, Cong. Abu, said, “The rationale of this is for Filipino citizens to defend the state at all cost, and in a collective effort to make the Republic of the Philippines a real Southeast Asian superpower in the near future.” (Explanatory Notes).
HB 5113 faces stiff opposition from children’s rights advocates who claim that ROTC only teaches students brutality, fascism, corruption and impunity. The killing in 2001 of University of Santo Tomas student Mark Welson Chua in an ROTC-related violence prompted the passage of Republic Act 9163 or the National Service Training Program, which made ROTC voluntary.
In an Official Position Paper of the International Committee of the Red Cross, it was noted that with the current educational setup in the Philippines (K-12), students in Grades 11 and 12 (senior high school level under RA 10533) would tend to be around 15-17 years old.
The Philippines is State party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (Opac). Its Article 2 says that State Parties shall ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 18 years are not compulsorily recruited into their armed forces.
Key in determining the legality of the draft HB 5113 regarding ROTC will be whether this training “controls entry into the armed forces,” e.g., on completion of the training, whether students are enlisted as reserve officers. If they are, this is likely to be interpreted as a breach of Opac Article 2,” according to the ICRC.
The ICRC strongly recommends that the authorities revisit the draft HB 5113 to ensure compliance with the Philippines obligation under Article 2 of the Opac, for the purpose of ensuring that persons who have not attained the age of 18 years are not compulsorily recruited into their armed forces. In particular, students in Grades 11 and 12 (senior high school level under RA 10533) must not enter into the armed forces, i.e., on completion of the training, be enlisted as reserve officers.
DND Chief of Legal Operations Atty. Norman Daanoy argued that HB 5113, “a product of six-month- long workshop and consultation, is not a violation of international protocols.” He added: “We are not training child soldiers for warfare. The objective of the protocol is to avoid training children for warfighting or to become soldiers. We are not training children in high school to become soldiers.” (Inquirer.net, December 11, 2018).
The expressed legislative intent of HB 5113 and similar bills seeking to make mandatory ROTC training—which is “to inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs is laudable.” While I agree that these values cannot be taught in a classroom setting and that physical training is necessary, I disagree that this should be mandatory for Grades 11 and 12 when students are ages 15 to 17. Only students at least 18 years old should be covered by the mandatory ROTC program.
President Duterte has time and again said that the country adheres to the Rule of Law, and under our Philippine Constitution, international treaties and protocols are part of the law of the land. As the Philippines is a signatory to Opac, then we must respect our obligation under Article 2 thereof to “ensure that persons who have not attained the age of 18 years are not compulsory recruited into the armed forces.”
Rather than rush the passage of HB 5113 only to be later challenged as being violative of international protocols and our treaty obligations, it may be best to amend the proposed bill to make ROTC mandatory at college level, for students 18 years old and above.
There may be other infirmities in the bill, in that it fails to provide safety nets to prevent graft and corruption and to curb hazing and other forms of violence. All the more reason for the authors of the bill to open the measure to more consultation.
Let the debates continue!
1 comment
Atry Patajo-Kapunan good morning.
I would like to know if there is an exemption to the ROTCl. Please cite them. Thank you.