Should ROTC be revived?

BAÑOC

When I heard the news that the Duterte administration is determined to revive the mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program for grades 11 and 12, I noticed that it drew mixed reactions among the Filipino people.

There are those who favored the plan and others who opposed it. Both have valid reasons for their respective stands on the issue especially those who experienced the said program before.

This made me remember my 2009 pilgrimage to Israel. Aside from visiting the country’s renowned religious landmarks, I noticed there are many young Israeli soldiers both men and women scattered in different areas of their country.

I asked our Filipina tour guide who married an Israeli about the young soldiers, and she explained to me everything. At that time, she told me that one of her daughters had just finished serving in the army.

She said since Israel is locked in an existing conflict with Palestine, their government has required all their children to serve in active duty in their army. Both men and women are mandated to serve in their army once they turn 18.

For men, they have to serve for three years while it’s two years for women. After serving their mandatory tour of duty that will be the time that they chose whether to continue serving in the army or pursue a different career.

She further explained to me my additional observation about the closeness of each Israeli family. She said their tour of duty in the army led their families to be close to each other. She pointed out that they consider owning their children only up to 18 years old.

After that they offer their children to the government to serve in the army and they only wish that they can still go back to their home after the mandatory tour of duty.

She said while the parents pray that their children survive the mandatory tour of duty, they also prepare themselves to accept the reality that anything can happen to their children. They instill patriotism among their youth and their willingness to die for their country.

In fact, while Israel is a small country, it cannot be bullied by their big neighboring countries because of their strong armed forces. Their armies are known to the world as one of the best especially their air force and commandos.

I can just imagine the immeasurable sacrifices of every family who allows their children to serve in the army. Every Israeli knows that serving in the army is part and parcel of their obligations as citizens to defend their country.

With that observation, I can just imagine why some of our Filipino countrymen are grumbling and very uncooperative with the government’s plan to let our youth undergo military training which is not as risky compared to the mandatory army service required of Israel’s youth. Why are we so divided in that issue?

While we are very lucky that our country is not in a state of war so there is no need for our youth to be in active duty, there is nothing wrong if our youth are trained, prepared and at least become a reservist. Anyway it will only take a very minimal training time.

To be fair though there are lots of benefits for the youth who undergo ROTC training. Aside from instilling discipline, patriotism and leadership, they can be trained also to disaster preparedness, rescue and many more.

Admittedly, the ROTC program encountered problems such as the prevalent abuse committed by the training officers and their corruption. That problem should be clearly addressed. Congress should place safeguards to ensure that the previous flaws will not happen again.

The specific defect of the program should be corrected, but the program should not be abolished. It is like seeing the termites eating one’s home. One need not burn the whole house to get rid of the termites.

In like fashion, one need not oppose the whole ROTC program just because of minute defects that can be remedied and properly addressed. Revive the ROTC now.