Senator proposes revised CAT

The common sight of students in military uniform marching with wooden guns could soon be replaced by the sight of students marching in dirty clothes with brooms, rakes and spades.

This scenario loomed after Sen. Loren Legarda filed a measure calling for the conversion of the Citizens Army Training (CAT) for high school students into a Citizens Ecology Service.

Legarda said that citizens military training courses have become irrelevant because of a reduced threat of foreign aggression following the waning of the Cold War.

Most students bewail the time spent marching under the heat of the sun and the instilling of military discipline even if they have no intention to become soldiers.

Military training was made mandatory under a law enacted during the time of then President Manuel L. Quezon when Gen. Douglas MacArthur was seeking to build the nucleus of the Philippine Army. Legarda, although a lieutenant colonel in the reserve force, expressed the belief that military training for high school and college students is a thing of the past.

"The time, effort and resources of the youth should be directed toward more relevant activities, which would make a positive impact on society and contribute to its present needs such as tree planting, reforestation, and the rehabilitation of rivers," Legarda said.

She has filed Senate Bill 1163 seeking the abolition of the CAT and its replacement by ecology service.

All ecology service courses would be carried out in cooperation with local government units with jurisdiction over the schools.

Legarda’s measure also proposed the inclusion of ecology subjects in tertiary curricula as she noted a "dire need for a massive environmental campaign within communities."

The ecology subjects would be made a prerequisite to the grant of a baccalaureate degree.

"The ecology course is intended to instill patriotism and nationalism while promoting environmental awareness and involvement in environmental affairs," Legarda explained.

She said that once ecology becomes an integral part of the college curriculum, citizens military training (CMT) for college students would become optional. – Efren Danao