CHED eyes diploma program for ROTC cadets

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Higher Education is eyeing the creation of a certificate program at the higher education level if efforts to revive military training in senior high school succeed, the body's OIC Prospero De Vera said.

De Vera said that CHED was already in the process of creating a short two-year program that would serve as a “pathway” in higher education institutions for senior high school students who would join the Reserve Officer Training Corps.

“We’re creating a short two-year program for those who want to go to ROTC to finish with a diploma in disaster management or something like that,” De Vera said in an interview with Philstar.com.

READ: CHED to review law on ROTC

The CHED's acting head said that they had already formed a technical panel for the program, which had already crafted a preliminary curriculum for the short course.

He added that they were just waiting for fate of the law that the administration would submit to Congress to revive ROTC and could insert their short course as a statute’s provision. They could also launch it as a standalone program, he said.

ROTC has not been abolished but has been optional since the launch of the National Service Training Program, where students can opt to perform community service instead of military training. ROTC was mandatory for male college students until the murder of University of Santo Tomas cadet Mark Chua in 2001 at the hands of cadet officers whose alleged corruption he exposed in the university newspaper. 

De Vera reasoned that the counterpart program on the tertiary level was needed as it would be difficult to mobilize students who took ROTC in times of emergencies if there was no similar mechanism in higher education institutions.

Drug testing in schools

De Vera also clarified that CHED was not imposing a new law with proposals to conduct mandatory drug testing among college students.

He said that such tests could be conducted by universities and colleges with or without CHED’s directive.

“What CHED is doing is to make sure that when they do drug testing in accordance with the requirements of law and you have one system for state universities. That is why we issue guidelines to standardize it,” he said.

De Vera also expressed confidence that the problem with the delays in the release of the allowances of the Commission’s K to 12 scholars could be solved by the end of February.

“We have basically solved the problem. I am confident that in two to three weeks there will be no complaints,” he said.

Upon assumption of the office, he conveyed a sense of urgency to this staff and changed the design of the program.

He said that instead of going to CHED’s main office or regional offices scholars would instead submit their papers to their universities which would then forward the documents to the commission.

“Just by doing that, in the top five schools, we were able to release stipends of 600 scholars in four days just by changing the point of contact,” De Vera said.

De Vera explained that this issue on 933 scholars not given allowances – CHED Read more at https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/01/13/1777312/only-933-scholars-not-given-allowances-ched#UU2f1IMbOlV8UeVg.99 the delays in the allowances of their scholars could be the “bigger issue” that may have prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to ask for former CHED Chairperson Patricia Licuanan to step down from office.

READ: Duterte says he 'dismissed' Licuanan as CHED chair

“What I know is the president instructed Palace officials to review her travels, and the president has publicly said that it was not just the travels that were problematic. It was the unpaid allowances of CHED scholars. It was the bigger issue because it was a management issue,” he said.

De Vera said that CHED Executive Director Mark Yee did not report to the agency the threats that he cited as reason for his resignation from the Commission.

He said that upon learning about the threats through his resignation letter he contacted the National Bureau of Investigation to help and protect Yee.

He also clarified that former CHED Executive Director Julito Vitriolo had not assumed any position in the agency as his case had not yet reached finality and Duterte had not yet accepted the resignation of Yee.

“He has not assumed any position. He has not signed any papers. He has no authority to sign any paper because there is a standing resolution by the Commission to that effect,” he said.