Hontiveros opposes mandatory ROTC: Youth can show patriotism in other ways

Senator Risa Hontiveros maintained her opposition to making the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program mandatory for students, saying the youth can show their patriotism in other ways.

"Iba't-ibang paraan para mahalin at magsilbi kay inang bayan. So 'yung mga passion nila sa buhay ay may military service, katulad ng late husband ko na PMA graduate full support ako sa mga batang iyon. Pero 'yung ibang mga kabataan na Filipino na gustong maglingkod kay inang bayan sa iba pang paraan, 'wag natin sila pipilitin no sa iisang hulma lamang," she said in an interview Monday evening.

(There are other ways to love and serve the motherland. If military service is their passion, like my late husband who is a Philippine Military Academy graduate, I fully support them. But the young ones who want to serve the country in different ways, let us not force them into this.)

The lawmaker also said that a militaristic mindset should not be instilled in the minds of the youth. Instead, they should be encouraged to join activities that are more "democratic."

"Dapat palayo tayo sa militarism na mindset natin. Papunta sa mas demokratiko at sa mas citizen's participation sa ibang anyo," she added.

(We should leave the militarism mindset. We should pursue more democratic actions and citizens' participation.)

In his first State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pushed for a mandatory ROTCH program for senior high school students, naming the proposal as one of the priority measures of his administration.

Several senators have already filed separate bills seeking to institutionalize the ROTC program.

In an ANC interview Tuesday, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, despite being one of the lawmakers who pushed for the abolition of the ROTC due to the death of a student, was now "open" to considering mandatory ROTC participation. — DVM, GMA News