Sara camp says proposal to amend K-12, revive ROTC ‘fake’

Vice President-elect Sara Duterte has not made any remark about the supposed plan to amend the K-12 program as well as the revival of the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC), her spokesman clarified on Thursday.

This as a quote card has been spreading online attributing to Duterte a statement regarding the proposal to amend the K-12 program, the introduction of the ROTC, and the mandatory military service in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

"Vice President-elect Sara Duterte has never released any statements to this effect. The quote card is fake," Liloan Mayor Christina Frasco said in a statement.

"This is not the first, and we anticipate that this will not be the last of these nefarious attempts to discredit, attack, and attribute lies and conjectures against Vice President-elect Sara Duterte as she transitions into the role of the Vice President and the Secretary of Education," she added.

The publication material supposedly quoted Duterte as saying, "After my proclamation as Vice President and immediate assumption as Secretary of the Department of Education, I will immediately ask the Congress to amend the K12 program to K14+ basic education program. ROTC will be again compulsory plus two years mandatory service in the AFP without salary. Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ng kabataan ang kailangan."

Duterte had accepted the offer of President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to lead the Department of Education under the latter's administration.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones is expected to meet with Duterte in order to ensure a smooth transition of the new leadership.

Meanwhile, Frasco urged the public to be "circumspect against persons and groups who will no doubt continue to proliferate disinformation against Vice President-elect Sara Duterte in the coming months and years due to their own vested interests." — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News