Judging from the low number of applicants to the Philippine Military Academy, patriotism among Filipino youth is dwindling, said Ernesto Carolina, head of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office.
Carolina also based his observation on the preference of more students to take up Civic Welfare Training Service instead of joining the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).
As we approach the 116th anniversary of Philippine Independence, we should check the pulse of the young generation who make more than half of the population.
Carolina’s assessment, being one-dimensional, doesn’t come close to the truth. Military service is not the only measure of love of country.
We must not forget that optional enrollment in ROTC was granted under the National Service Training Program Law that Congress enacted in 2001. The change was a response to reports of corruption among ROTC officials that came to a head with the death of Mark Welson Chua.
Chua, a student of the University of Santo Tomas, was thrown into the Pasig River to die soon after he revealed to the school paper, the Varsitarian, details of ROTC corruption.
His body was found wrapped in a carpet. His hands and feet were bound and his face was wrapped in cloth and packing tape. He was alive when he was thrown into the river.
If Chua’s exposé of the truth without regard for consequences, if his generation’s protest against ROTC corruption and their demand for justice for Chua were not a demonstration of patriotism, we would be hard-pressed to find examples.
Fortunately, we can confidently say that while there is room for improvement, the youth do love their motherland.
We see patriotism in the youth-driven online and offline protests against the pork barrel system and patronage politics.
It appears in the online signature campaign for the protection of trees against indiscriminate uprooting for road widening projects.
We see it when young people troop to the coasts or the mountains to plant trees and mangroves, when they call the government to task for not enforcing waste segregation, when they apply their creativity in IT-startup ventures that provide needed services and generate jobs, when they flock to calamity-ravaged places like Tacloban City to help build homes for Yolanda victims.
To chide the young for apathy does not help the cause of raising them to be patriotic.
Elders need to be creative in harnessing their vigor and commitment, by opening their eyes to the nobility of protecting a beautiful country and appreciating the goodness of our people.
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