EAPP: Major PT – British Parliament Debate Phoebe Julia Lague

Topic: Mandatory ROTC, yes or no? 11 HUMSS - Peace

Committee: Opposition CN 26

Research

https://www.rappler.com/nation/231111-house-3rd-reading-mandatory-rotc-senior-high-school-students

 If passed into law, the bill would make the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program mandatory for both male and female
senior high school students
 MANILA, Philippines – As it reopened session, the House of Representatives approved on 3rd and final reading the
controversial bill making the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program mandatory for Grades 11 and 12.
 Legislators voted 167-4-0 in favor of House Bill (HB) 8961 on Monday, May 20, more than 3 months since they approved the
measure on 2nd reading in February.
 The bill has a long way to go, however, as its Senate version remains pending at the committee level. It would have to go
through successful 2nd and 3rd readings in the upper chamber before President Rodrigo Duterte may sign it into law.
 HB 8961 says the conduct of military training under ROTC "shall apply to all students in Grades 11 and 12 in all senior high
schools in public and private educational institutions."
 This means the military training would be required for both male and female students.
 The goal behind the proposed two-year mandatory ROTC is "producing well-trained and prepared reservists for military and
civic service."
 "The ROTC training is aimed to instill patriotism, love of country, moral and spiritual virtues, and respect for human rights
and adherence to the Constitution," states HB 8961.
 But the bill also says "in no way should the ROTC be used for political gains, to teach and instill particular ideology, and as a
mechanism for hazing and abuse."

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1071248

 MANILA -- The proposed reinstatement of the mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) for Grades 11 and 12
students does not violate any international law, the spokesperson of the Department of National Defense (DND) said
Friday.
 "It is the DND’s position that those opposed to the proposed bill are using a myopic interpretation of the law, which
misleads the public into forming false perceptions and ill-informed opinions. The proposed bill was vetted by the DOJ, DND,
DepED, and DFA (departments of justice, national defense, education, and foreign affairs) to ensure that it does not
contravene the Philippine constitution and international conventions," Arsenio Andolong told the Philippine News Agency
(PNA).
 Andolong was reacting to claims made by some sectors that making ROTC mandatory for senior high students violates
international law.
 He was referring to House of Representatives Bill 8961, which seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) 7077 or the Citizen Armed
Forces of the Philippines Reservist Act. The bill was passed by the House on third and final reading, with a vote of 167-4-0.
 Andolong said that under the “Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of
Children in Armed Conflict”, to which the Philippines is a signatory, the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is 18 years old.
 He also pointed out that ROTC cadets are not conscripted into the military and expected to fight wars during their two-year
training.
 "While some cadets may opt to join the regular force after they finish their voluntary advanced ROTC in college, mandatory
ROTC will not automatically make our Grades 11 and 12 students part of the AFP. Furthermore, critics of the bill also forget
that (the) mobilization of reservists in times of war will require an Act of Congress," Andolong explained.
 He added that reinstating mandatory ROTC among Grades 11 and 12 students is logical as only a small percentage of high
school students are able to attend college.
 This will automatically exclude them from the program should mandatory ROTC be reinstated for college students only.
 "As to the question of age, we must point out that mandatory ROTC in the past was part of the curriculum of first and
second year college students, most of whom were 16 to 18 years old. Reinstating mandatory ROTC in Grades 11 and 12
would not be any different in terms of age because these students fall within the same age bracket of the first and second
 year college students of the old curriculum. This seems to be a fact that proponents of college-level ROTC conveniently
forget when they cite age as a problem in the current proposal," Andolong he said.
 Under House Bill 8961, ROTC training would apply to “all students in Grades 11 and 12 in all senior high schools in public
and private educational institutions” and shall be a requirement for graduation.
 The following students may, however, be exempted: those who are physically or psychologically unfit; those who have
undergone or are undergoing similar military training; those who are chosen by their school to serve as varsity players in
sports competition; and those who may be exempted from training for valid reasons as approved by the DND, upon
recommendation by an educational institution where the student is enrolled.
 The proposed measure also strictly prohibits the use of ROTC training for “political” objective and for teaching and instilling
a particular political ideology on students. House Bill 8961 also bans hazing and other forms of physical or mental abuse.
(PNA)

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/08/04/1609940/duterte-admits-not-finishing-rotc-course

 MANILA, Philippines – If you haven’t completed your Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) requirement, don’t despair.
 Even President Duterte, commander-in-chief of the 125,000 strong Armed Forces, admitted that he did not finish the
course, which used to be mandatory for college students.
 “You know I am not from the military. I did not even finish ROTC but I’m not into delays. Let’s be frank. I don’t want delays
and corruption,” he told soldiers during his visit to the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center in Quezon City last
Tuesday.
 Duterte is pushing for the revival of mandatory service to the ROTC program, believing this would promote patriotism and
keep the youth away from drugs.
 He expressed support for the mandatory military training during a Cabinet meeting in Malacañang last Tuesday.
 “It’s interesting what was mentioned, especially the President’s comment regarding ROTC. How it’s going to help in the
building up of discipline and values, especially in this generation, and how we expect ROTC to be able to help build a sense
of patriotism among the next generation,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.
 Efforts to push for the revival of mandatory ROTC are now being discussed, Abella added.
 ROTC is one of three components of the National Service Training Program (NSTP). Other courses offered are Civic Welfare
Training Service, which deals with community programs, and the Literacy Training Service, which seeks to provide basic
skills to public school pupils.
 The mandatory ROTC program was abolished after then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed the NSTP law in 2002.
Congress passed the measure following the murder of Mark Chua, a University of Santo Tomas student who bared
irregularities in his ROTC unit.
 Chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said in an earlier interview that the executive would ask allies in Congress
to file a bill that would revive the mandatory ROTC program.
 Youth group Anakbayan, however, has thumbed down the proposal.
 Anakbayan national chairman Vencer Crisostomo said they would wage a strong campaign against the proposal because
ROTC is an abusive and burdensome program.
 The youth leader noted that ROTC has a tainted record of stimulating power-tripping, corruption, hazing and mindless
violence. It would also mean additional fees and more burden to students.
 “ROTC should be abolished, not made mandatory. The program has never instilled nationalism, social responsibility or
discipline. It is a training ground for fascist repression and corruption,” Crisostomo said.
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/inside-track/175638-duterte-trick-out-rotc

 President Rodrigo Duterte says he tricked the military registrar by submitting medical documents of another man who had
a communicable disease

 TRICKSTER. President Rodrigo Duterte, who now commands the Philippine military, says he tricked officials so he wouldn't
have to complete ROTC. Presidential photo
 TRICKSTER. President Rodrigo Duterte, who now commands the Philippine military, says he tricked officials so he wouldn't
have to complete ROTC.
 President Rodrigo Duterte was in a story-telling mood on Friday, July 14, as he regaled diplomats in Davao City with tales of
his pranks and tricks back in his younger days.
 One story he shared was how he supposedly managed to graduate from college without finishing the Reserve Officers'
Training Corps (ROTC), a requirement in those days.
 Duterte, who as President wants to bring back mandatory ROTC, said he tricked the military registrar by submitting medical
documents that proved he was too sickly to take ROTC, thus exempting him from the requirement.
 Duterte was an undergraduate at the Lyceum Philippines where he took up political science.
 In the year he was supposed to graduate, Duterte said he went to Camp Aguinaldo where he was told by a registrar staff
that he won't be able to graduate unless he completes the ROTC program. He was told that he would only be exempted if
he has tuberculosis or is handicapped.
 "So sabi ko, 'Maraming TB-han dito.' Pumunta ako sa San Lazaro. May isa – nakalinya 'yung mga gago eh. (Pretends to
cough) Ang ingay, in unison! Kanya-kanyang sputum dito sa ground," said Duterte. (So I said, there are many people with TB
here.' I went to San Lazaro hospital. The fools were all lined up. It was so noisy, they were coughing in unison! Each had
their own sputum on the ground.)
So the young Duterte approached one of the patients. "'Yung isa, kinausap ko, sabi ko, 'Halika. Gamitin mo itong pangalan
mo, Rodrigo Duterte, ilagay man nila 'yan sa X-ray. Bigyan kita isang libo,'" he said.
(I told one of them, 'Come here. Use this name, Rodrigo Duterte, they'll put it in the X-ray. I'll give you P1,000.)
The man supposedly did as he was told and 3 days later, Duterte went back to get a copy of the man's X-ray. To show his
appreciation, he even gave his unwitting accomplice a P500 "tip".
Duterte went to his college and presented the X-ray to the staff.
The school personnel who received the X-ray was so convinced that he even supposedly told Duterte, "Kaya ka pala payat
masyado. Umalis ka! Umalis ka!" (That's why you're too thin. Get out of here! Get out of here!)
Duterte did not have to be told twice. He left but not without throwing in a few fake coughs for added effect.
"Paubo-ubo ako, naghahanap ako ng plema (I kept coughing, I needed some phlegm)," said Duterte, obviously still pleased,
after all these years, of the trick he successfuly played.
 Acting chops
Why go through all that trouble to skip mandatory ROTC? Duterte said the military life is simply not his cup of tea.
"Ayaw ko talaga magmilitar, ayaw ko nga 'yan sigaw-sigawan ako (I don't want to enter the military, I don't want to be
shouted at)," said Duterte, now the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces.
 To wrap up his story, he said street smarts, and politics, naturally come with acting skills.
"Ganoon lang man 'yan, storya ka lang ng malungkot na kuwento, basta siyempre dalhan mo ng arte. Magpresidente ka
kaya kung hindi ka marunong mag-arte?" he said.
(That's all it takes, a sad story and of course some acting. Can you become president if you don't know how to act?)
 Duterte is a masterful storyteller, often using amusing anecdotes to get his point across. For instance, he has shared on
numerous occasions the time he confessed to an elderly Jesuit priest of his peeping at his family's maid.
 Duterte said the priest, Fr Mark Falvey SJ, would use those times of confession to molest him and other Ateneo de Davao
high school students.
 He uses the anecdote to convince his audience that priests, among his chief critics, have their own sins to atone for. –
Rappler.com

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1147251/dela-rosa-backs-mandatory-rotc-cites-declining-number-of-reservists

 MANILA, Philippines – Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Sunday reiterated his support for the reimposition of the
mandatory Basic Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) for Grade 11 and 12 students.
 Dela Rosa, who formerly served as Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, said that the move would promote patriotism
among the youth.
 Military and civil service
Those who completed the basic ROTC program would not only be summoned in the event of a war, but would likewise be
asked to assist in rescue and relief operations in times of disaster, Dela Rosa said.
“The object is to produce a group of well-trained and prepared reservists for military and civil service,” Dela Rosa said in a
statement.
He added that some foreign nations also require male citizens to serve in the military for two years upon reaching the age
of 18.
 Under the law
Under Senate Bill No. 227, otherwise known as an Act Mandating the Institutionalization, Development, Training,
Organization and Administration of Basic Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) in Grades 11 and 12 in Public and Private
Educational Institutions, those who will not be able to complete the program would not be eligible for graduation.

https://www.philstar.com/metro/2004/04/01/244779/ust-student-gets-death

 A Manila court handed down the death penalty to a University of Sto. Tomas (UST) student for killing fellow student Mark
Welson Chua, who had exposed corruption in the UST-Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) two years ago.
 The victim’s parents, Welson and Amet Chua, their daughter Charmaine, relatives and friends cried as a guilty verdict
against accused Arnulfo Aparri Jr. was read in an open court by a staffer of Manila Judge Romulo Lopez of Regional Trial
Court Branch 18.
But for the mother, the conviction of only one of the killers is not enough to compensate for the death of her only son.
"While this is a good start, I won’t be at peace until other killers and the mastermind are arrested and prosecuted," she
said.
 The mother said she is hoping for immediate arrest of three others, namely Paul Joseph Tan, Eduardo Tabrilla and Michael
Von Rainard Mangangbao, who are now subject of warrant of arrest issued by Lopez.
The father called on the public to help them locate the trio so justice can fully served.
He thanked the media, including Philippine Star publisher Max Soliven for helping his family in their struggle for justice.
 Lopez ordered Aparri to indemnify the heirs of the victim P50,000. The judge noted that Chua’s parents did not seek civil
damages.
 The conviction will automatically be elevated to the Supreme Court for review. Aparri will be sent to the National Bilibid
Prisons.
 Lopez added that charges against Tan, Tabrilla and Mangangbao have been archived and will be brought back to the active
calendar of the court upon their apprehension.
 Campus Exposé
Chua’s body was fished out from the Pasig River on March 18, 2001. The body was wrapped in a carpet, his face covered
with masking tape and his hands tied.
When investigators removed the tape from Chua’s face, his eyes popped out as the body was already in an early stage of
decomposition.
In a 72-page decision, Lopez said the court found that the perpetrators to have enjoyed and delighted in making Chua suffer
slowly and gradually, causing the latter unnecessary physical pain in the consummation of the criminal act.
"The perpetrators’ actuations denote sadism and marked degree of malice and perversity. Chua’s inhuman death was
augmented by the use of other process of sufferings for the assailants’ satisfaction," he said.
State Prosecutor Peter Ong said the verdict was just for the crime committed. "Walang awa nilang pinatay yung walang
kalaban-laban na biktima," he said.
Prosecution witness Franco Salvador Suelto, a campus journalist, told the court that he saw Chua’s body before it was
wrapped in a carpet on March 18, 2001.
Suelto, who was then a third year BS psychology student, explained that UST-ROTC commandant Maj. Dey Tejares was
replaced by Capt. Rodolfo Batang in February 2001 due to the exposé made by Chua and a certain Romulo Yumol in the
Varsitarian, the school paper.
The exposé on alleged fixing at the ROTC prompted the Philippine National Police to conduct an investigation. The subject
of the probe invoved Tejares’ staff namely Melchore Mallones, Genesis Binagatan and Jeoffrey Binagatan.
On March 15, 2001, Suelto said he attended a meeting with cadet officers at the UST Department of Military Service
Training at the back of UST Grandstand. Present during the meeting were Tabrilla, Tan, Mangangbao, Eliseo Petarge,
Emmanuel Corpuz, Lito Orbus and other cadets.
After the meeting, Suelto said he was set to work on an article for the school paper at the Varsitarian office, but decided to
use the computer at the officers’ lounge.
Suelto said Mangangbao and Eliseo Pitarge went ahead of him and before he could enter the lounge, he saw Aparri, who
was a fellow first class officer in the ROTC, dragging a body wearing a UST engineering uniform.
The head was wrapped with tape. The hands and feet were tied behind the back with shoelaces, Suelto told the court. He
presumed it was Chua.
 Dumping The Body
 Despite knowledge of the foul play, Suelto went about working on his article at the officers’ lounge, during which Tan and
Tabrilla brought in a brown carpet, which was spread on the floor. The victim’s body was placed lengthwise.
With the help of Mangangbao, they wrapped the body with the carpet. Mangangbao and Tabrilla carried the body and
Aparri helped them load it to a white pickup truck. The three left the campus past midnight of March 16, 2001.
The following day, Suelto and a classmate returned to the lounge to work on another article. Later, Mangangbao, Tabrilla
and Tan invited him for dinner. They did not talk about the killing at any point during the dinner at a restaurant in
Parañaque City.
After the dinner, Suelto and the group went to Tan’s rented house. It was there that the killers revealed to him about their
problem of disposing the body, which they have been keeping for two days.
Suelto said Tan ordered them to board the pickup, which Mangangbao drove toward the Pasig River. The body was inside
the vehicle, he said.
Upon reaching Pasig River at Lawton, Mangangbao maneuvered the truck carrying the body near the riverside.
Mangangbao, Tan and Tabrilla then dumped the body into the river.
Suelto noted that before they left the area, Tan warned all of them "that no one should know about the crime." During the
trial, the defense maintained that Chua had died during ROTC hazing rites.
But the judge said there was no reason to believe that Aparri, together with Mangangbao, Tabrilla and Tan did not kill Chua.
"To ensure that Chua was dead after tying his hands and wrapping his face with tape, the body was even rolled up inside a
carpet," Lopez said. He noted that the killing was perpetrated as a result of vindictiveness and to put an end to the exposé
of the alleged corruption in the ROTC.
The defense lawyer maintained that Aparri, who had voluntarily surrendered, was innocent.

https://varsitarian.net/special-reports/20180318/family-still-hopes-for-justice-seventeen-years-after-mark-welson-chuas-death

 IT’S BEEN 17 years, but the family of Mark Welson Chua never lost hope “full” justice would eventually be attained for the
killing of the former UST Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadet, as two of four suspects remain at large to this day.
 “Partial justice lang ‘yung binigay, hindi full justice. Hindi ko alam kailan ko matatanggap ‘yong full justice, kung mayroon
mang justice ang Pilipinas,” Mark’s mother Amelita Chua told the Varsitarian.
 Chua, then a 19-year-old mechanical engineering student, disclosed to the Varsitarian in January 2001 the corruption in the
University’s ROTC program together with his fellow cadet Romulo Yumul.
 Chua’s exposé was published in the Varsitarian’s Feb. 21, 2001 issue. The story titled “Struggle Against the System” cited
the formal complaint of Yumul and Chua that caused the relief of Maj. Demy Tejares from duty as commandant of the ROTC
unit, and other Department of Military Science and Tactics (DMST) officials.
 Chua went missing the following month. His father Welson received a call claiming Mark had been kidnapped. The caller
asked for a P3-million ransom.
 Two days later, on March 18, 2001, Mark’s decomposing body, rolled in a carpet, was fished out of Pasig River; his hands
and legs hogtied and his face wrapped with silver duct tape.
 “Hindi naman ako nawawalan ng pag-asa kahit hindi na ganun kainit ‘yung kaso. Kasi naniniwala ako sa karma e. Kung hindi
man sa life na ‘to, ‘yung responsible sa pagpatay kay Mark e babayaran din nila,” Amelita said.
 In 2004, Arnulfo Aparri, one of the accused in the case, was sentenced to death by lethal injection. He was also ordered to
pay the family P50,000 in indemnity. When the death penalty was abolished in 2006, Aparri’s sentence was changed to life
imprisonment without parole.
 Eduardo Tabrilla, another accused, pleaded guilty to homicide in 2006. Two others, Paul Tan and Michael Rainard
Manangbao, remain at large.
 Amelita said there had been no significant developments in the case. Pursuing Tan and Manangbao required a huge amount
of money that the family did not have, she said.
 Mark’s father, Welson, died in February 2006.
 “As of now, ‘di ko na alam kung sino lalapitan ko kasi lahat siguro noong time na [buhay] ‘yong daddy ni Mark, nilapitan na
niya lahat. If kayo nasa kalagayan ko, if you’ve been in my shoes, ano, sino na?” she said.
 Mark’s death brought clamor for the abolition of mandatory ROTC, resulting in the passage of the National Service Training
Program law that offers other service options that do not involve military training.
 In 2016, the Department of National Defense (DND) called for the reimposition of the mandatory ROTC program. President
Rodrigo Duterte approved the DND’s proposal to restore mandatory ROTC for Grades 11 and 12 in public and private
schools in February last year.
 A bill is set to be deliberated in Congress to amend Republic Act 7077 or the Citizen Armed Forces of the Philippines
Reservist Act before mandatory ROTC can be enforced in Grades 11 and 12.
 The University posthumously awarded Mark the San Lorenzo Ruiz Medal in June 2001 for “showing exceptional and
exemplary courage in standing up for the truth and Thomasian ideals,” which his father before he died.