Statement on the Mandatory ROTC Bill
The U.P. Vanguard Inc., the alumni association of advanced Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) graduates from the University of the Philippines, decries the statement made by senators trying to derail the passage of the bill mandating ROTC at the tertiary level by using the unfortunate death of a fraternity neophyte as an excuse.
“The death of a student due to hazing and the passage of mandatory ROTC at the college level are not related. There is absolutely no connection whatsoever. The Tau Gamma Phi is not even involved in the administration of ROTC.”, said Mr Guido Alfredo Delgado, National Commander of the UP Vanguard Inc.
The UP Vanguard Inc., is a proponent of the return of ROTC as a mandatory requirement in college to bolster the defense and disaster relief capabilities of the country. The protection and security of Filipinos are the primordial roles of the government as mandated by our Constitution.
There are various Senate bills being proposed with the necessary safeguards to prevent hazing. Senate Bill No. 468 of Senator Jinggoy Estrada, Senate Bill No. 1349 of Senator Ronald dela Rosa and Senate Bill No. 1551 of Senator Sherwin Gatchalian provides that acts or omissions including hazing and sexual harassment will be punished by the maximum penalty imposed by existing laws that prohibit these.
“The Senate bills being considered are already replete with safeguards to ensure ROTC cadets and cadet officers are safe. This is also why we are pushing that the ROTC program be devolved away from the AFP to be under a government agency purely looking after the ROTC program of instruction and its execution, so there is a total overhaul in the ROTC program focusing on practical applications including disaster management.”, Delgado said.
Under the proposal of the UP Vanguard Inc. known as the Citizen Sevice Act, ROTC shall be managed by a commission. The commission will oversee training for deployment in emergencies and contingencies. This and other provisions are covered by Senate Bill No. 1235 of Senator JV Ejercito, which will also be consolidated into the final version.
For any questions or inquiries, you may reach out to Vanguardd Roberto D Coscolluela Jr. at +639951914531 or secretariat@upvanguardinc.org
