NUSP asks CHED to ensure optional ROTC is implemented

Students asked the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) yesterday to be on the lookout for colleges and universities who will not comply with the optional Reserve Officers Training Course (ROTC) policy.

Raymond Palatino, president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), said that this early, there are indications that many schools still require students to enroll in ROTC.

"We fear that with the minimal or even no preparation being done by our schools today, we will end up with the much-hated ROTC again," he said.

Due to the strong campaign against the ROTC over the past year, the course as changed by Congress into the National Service Training Program (NTSP) last year.

Students complained that the military orientation of the ROTC was irrelevant to the country’s situation and that it only gave birth to a culture of violence among the youth.

Under the NSTP, the students have the option to choose between ROTC, Civil Welfare Training Service (CWTS) and Literacy Training Service (LTS).

CWTS involves civic work that the students will perform while LTS was designed to train them to teach literacy and numeracy skills to school children, out-of-school youth and other segments of society in need of this service.

Palatino alleged that NUSP has already been receiving reports that in many schools, ROTC is still compulsory.

The NUSP is expecting a "chaotic" scenario this June because of lack of coordination between the schools and the CHED, Department of National Defense and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority that are tasked to oversee the implementation of NSTP.

"The situation today belies all the pronouncements of the government and the military that the NSTP will make ROTC optional," Palatino said.