CEBU CITY (PNA) – Officials of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) have oppose the plan of President Rodrigo Duterte to make the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) mandatory for college students.
Bro. Narciso “Jun” Erguiza, CEAP president, said they planned to submit a position paper on their stand.
Erguiza said making the ROTC mandatory was not the solution to prepare for war.
He said ROTC became optional after some students died due to illegal hazing practices.
Erguiza said the National Service Training Program (NSTP) was a far better alternative to the ROTC, preparing students in awareness for national defense purposes.
He also called on Congress to amend Republic Act (RA) 9163, also known as the NSTP Act of 2001, so ROTC will be an option students can choose from.
ROTC became optional in 2001 following the death of University of Sto. Tomas (UST) student Mark Welson Chua.
Chua was killed by his superior officers after he exposed alleged irregularities in UST’s ROTC program.
