By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
THE GOVERNMENT of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. can’t justify military training for students except to boost its defense in preparation for war, according to a policy analyst.
Keeping them healthy and fit could be better achieved by strengthening the state’s sports programs, and instilling patriotic values could be attained through the study of history and culture, Michael Henry LI. Yusingco, a lawyer and policy analyst, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
“There really is just one justification for imposing mandatory reserved officers’ training corps (ROTC) on our youth and that is to prepare them for war,” he said. “Making ROTC mandatory will certainly be a boost to our national defense capability, at least in terms of adding warm bodies.”
But Mr. Yusingco said the other goals that military training for students claim to support are better achieved through other means.
For example, getting them prepared for disasters is being done now through the Youth Council structure, he pointed out. “Improving their mental health is more appropriately handled by medical professionals and social workers than by soldiers. So really, making ROTC mandatory can only be justified by a possible war that we must prepare for.”
Mr. Yusingco said improved military training could send a signal to external threats “that we will be ready to muster a strong defensive effort when the need arises,” he added.
The College Editors Guild of The Philippines has said the ROTC had promoted killing, hazing, harassment, red-tagging and all other violence on young Filipinos in the past, calling mandatory student military training “fake nationalism.”
Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian in December filed a bill that seeks to revive a compulsory two-year military training program that will cover students in both public and private universities, colleges and vocational schools.
The proposed military training for college students is a priority bill of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
The ROTC requirement was abolished in 2002 after the murder of a University of Santo Tomas student who exposed corruption in the program. Students were said to be paying off military training officers so they could skip the training.
The Gatchalian bill includes basic military, leadership and civic training, as well as enhanced preparedness during disaster response operations.
The program seeks to enhance the capacity of the nation and its human resources in times of war, calamities and disasters, as well as national or local emergencies.
The House of Representatives in December passed a similar bill in which students who complete a two-year mandatory national citizens service training will become part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ reserve.
Erika Glaine A. Cuevas, University Student Government President at Philippine Christian University (PCU) in Manila, said military training for students should be voluntary.
She cited forced recruitments by the school’s faculty members for the ROTC programs since last year.
On March 18, first year students at the university’s College of Arts and Sciences and Social Work who were enrolled in the community service program were forced to be part of an ROTC class.
“At the start of the second semester, the students were left with no professor, then two weeks ago, they were told to go to school on a Saturday,” she said in a Viber message. “Then they were told that the Civic Welfare Training Service class would be turned into an ROTC class.”
An ROTC officer had told students they would be punished if they refused to cooperate, Ms. Cuevas cited, citing the students. The students ended up walking out of the class, she added.
Mr. Marcos last month asked the Philippine Army to boost relations with its foreign counterparts, highlighting the importance of international ties amid common security challenges.
External security threats to the Philippine have become more complex and unpredictable, the president said at the army’s 126th anniversary celebration.
“Continue to improve your relations with your counterparts overseas,” he told the troops. “Common security challenges necessitate a more concerted approach among like-minded nations.”
“Share information, learn from the best practices in the region to make our military better,” he added.
STUDENT RIGHTS
His remarks came amid increasing Chinese assertiveness in Philippine-claimed areas in the South China Sea.
Local foreign policy think tanks and experts have been urging the Philippine government to partner with as many countries as possible to deter China’s expansive activities at sea.
In February, the Philippines gave the United States access to four more military bases under their 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) — a move that has angered Beijing.
Lawmakers critical of Washington have also questioned the real intent of the EDCA expansion, fearing that the Philippines would be used as a staging ground for US military activities in the region.
Aside from the South China Sea dispute, the Indo-Pacific region has also been beset by tensions between China and the US over self-ruled Taiwan.
College students can choose among civic welfare training service, literary training service and the ROTC under the National Service Training Program Act of 2002.
Ms. Cuevas cited an incident last year when a PCU professor reprimanded a student who demanded why they were being forced to take up military training. In another incident, students were told “getting purposefully drowned” was part of the military training.
In a memo dated March 24, Ramon G. Santos, director of PCU’s national service training program, said students enrolled in PCU’s civic training program would stay there and get “appropriate instructional materials.”
Ms. Cuevas said the student government would keep watch whether the school would stick to its promise.
The PCU administration did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment.
She said that the bill seeking to revive student military training violates their right to choose.
“Lawmakers couldn’t provide any studies or research that would support their claim,” Ms. Cuevas said, adding that Congress should instead focus on policies that will improve the Philippine education system.
“It won’t be long and there will be more rights that will be stripped away from us by the very government that we elected.”