The extreme sides of the argument—for and against implementing a mandatory Reserve

Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program—fall like this: On one side, this would
brainwash our youth into mindless killing machines to serve the nefarious purposes of
the government. On the other hand, it would create an army of warriors ready to take on
any invaders, perhaps both human and from space.

Somewhere in the middle we might find some common sense.

In context, more than two-dozen nations around the globe require mandatory military
service. The list includes a wide diversity, geographically and economically. Perhaps
North and South Korea are not a surprise, as well as Israel and Taiwan. Austria and
Brazil require their men to serve, as does Singapore. Some are like Mexico where a man is
obligated to a year of military service consisting of a few hours of drill or social services
on weekends, not true military training.

While not making military service mandatory, many countries require that its men—and
women on a voluntary basis—sign up to be inducted into its military based on a lottery
system.

The problems with the Philippine mandatory college ROTC program—that ended in
2002—were supposed to be solved with the revised National Service Training Program
(NSTP). This had both male and female college students active in one of three
sections—ROTC, Civic Welfare Training Service or the Literacy Training Service.

According to the Commission on Higher Education, over a 10-year period from 2002-
2012 the Civic Welfare component produced 10,614,000 graduates, followed by the
ROTC component, with 1,435,000 Armed Forces of the Philippines reservists and the
Literacy Training with 538,700 graduates.

In speaking with some of our own students who went through the college program, there
was general agreement that the Civic Welfare and Literacy Services was a good
experience for both sides. One person who attended an exclusive school said that the
students in the poor areas that he helped to read better felt more a part of the broader
community than before. Another said that it was a good feeling giving something back to
the community.
One young man said that all his friends thought that his joining the ROTC was a waste
of time by marching around with a wooden gun. But his final reaction was that the
ROTC component helped him learn more discipline. He had to submit an excuse letter
why he could not attend an ROTC training session. However, his letter did not follow
the exact format required, and he was given a demerit.

Perhaps rather than making ROTC training mandatory in senior high school, the existing
NSTP format could be implemented. From all accounts, in general the NSTP has been
successful for both the students and the community. If ROTC is important, then the
government should explain why and how to the students. If they are old enough to be
trained, then they are mature enough to make their own decisions.