Return of the ROTC: A matter of national security

If only Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Emmanuel Bautista studied his history well, he wouldn't have made that uncalled for declaration last Friday that made the headlines of the Inquirer last Saturday which quoted him saying "EDCA a Deterrent to Face Threats." It would be tantamount to saying that because the Philippines was part of the United States of America Forces in the Far East, we wouldn't have been invaded by Imperial Japan. But the Japanese invaded the Philippines even with the presence of the USAFFE here.

Of course there was a huge difference then and now. Way back in 1941, the Philippines were still part of the US Commonwealth and therefore we did not need a mutual defense treaty with the Americans to defend our archipelago. But then as history has taught us, even with a huge presence of US Troops in Philippine soil, they could not stop the Japanese invasion to the Philippines. As history tells us, America lost in the opening salvos of WW2.

When General Masaharu Homma invaded Lingayen Gulf, General Douglas MacArthur immediately made preparations for a hasty exit via PT-boat from Corregidor to Cagayan de Oro (you can see this movie entitled "They were expendable" in videos starring John Wayne where Cebu was featured prominently) to fly to Australia via a private airfield in Bukidnon and left General Jonathan Wainwright with the defense of the Philippines, which ended with the fall of Bataan on April 1944.

So let us remind General Bautista again that even when the Americans stationed in the Philippines, we were still invaded by the Japanese and they ended up occupying the Philippines.

It is unfortunate that the Chief of Staff of the AFP would rather speak of yielding our defense into the hands of the US through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) rather than make preparations on how to defend the Philippines. Again, if you recall, during World War II, Adolf Hitler nearly ruled all of  Europe except for Russia, Switzerland and Britain. This is why Hitler sent his best General, General Erwin Rommel, to put up a formidable line of defense on the shores of France to prepare for the invasion. Those defenses didn't stop the Allied invasion into Normandy, but it resulted in thousands of casualties.

With that said, what about the Philippines? What is the AFP doing to prepare our nation for a potential war? The opening of the new school year is just around the corner and I dare say that it is downright negligent for the AFP not to insist upon the Aquino regime to re-impose once again the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) for college students.

In my book, ROTC is the only subject in college that teaches a student what it is to be patriotic, meaning to die for one's country (although, US General George Patton once said to his troops, "You are not here to die for your country… you are here to make sure that the other fella dies for his!") and above all learn certain skills that can be handy whenever our country gets hit by natural disaster.

If there were no warm bodies that were immediately available to help the victims of super typhoon "Yolanda" it was due to the fact that the ROTC is not longer a force that could immediately be tapped in times of natural disasters. Best of all, without the ROTC, the Philippines would not have the guerrilla force that made the occupation of the Imperial Japanese Army miserable.

Of course, being an ROTC reservist, we already knew about the corruption within the ROTC. But rather than address the problem of corruption, our politicians instead dismantled the ROTC to the cheers of the New People's Army. At this point, we would like to ask General Bautista again what is his game plan for the defense of the Philippines. Right now what the AFP presenting to China is that rusty old World War II Tank Landing Ship Transport (TLST) BRP Sierra Madre (which was once the USS Harnett County) in Ayungin Shoal manned by a handful of hardy soldiers.

This was thoroughly featured last October 27, 2013 by New York Times magazine entitled "A Game of Shark and Minnow" wherein the author said, "Historically, the physical presence of troops on the Sierra Madre had been a vital part of the Filipino strategy; currently their presence was the only thing stopping a complete Chinese takeover there."

This is how New York Times presented their very thorough feature on the Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal, which they say has deterred China to complete its presence in the disputed territory in the West Philippine Sea.  So for in meantime, let's ask the AFP Chief for the return of the ROTC back to school as it is a matter of national security. This is what the AFP should do.

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