Source :

- https://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/rotc-programs/
- https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/what-rotc-programs-are-and-how-they-
work
- https://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/college-planning/financial-
aid/financial-aid-rotc1.htm
- https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1061593
- https://www.rappler.com/nation/217347-duterte-to-congress-make-rotc-mandatory-for-
grade-11-12-students
What is ROTC?
- Army ROTC is an elective curriculum you take along with your required college classes.
It gives you the tools, training and experiences that will help you succeed in any
competitive environment. Along with great leadership training, Army ROTC can pay for
your college tuition. Because Army ROTC is an elective, you can participate in your
freshman and sophomore years without any obligation to join the Army. You will have a
normal college student experience like everyone else on campus, but when you
graduate, you will be commissioned as an Officer in the Army. At that point, you will
have a wide range of interest areas you can specialize in called branches.

- The purpose of the Army ROTC is to prepare students for commissioning as officers in
the Active Army, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard. The overall program is
designed to aid students in developing the abilities and attitudes that will make them
academically successful and to develop well educated junior officers.

- The Reserve Officers' Training Corps, commonly referred to as ROTC, offers students a
chance to study and serve after they complete their degree, or to participate for a short
time in the program without a post-college commitment. Students train as they learn,
taking military science courses alongside regular college classes, with the requirement
to enlist as an officer in the U.S. Army, Navy or Air Force upon graduation. The Coast
Guard does not have an ROTC program but rather a College Student Pre-Commisioning
Initiative, which offers scholarships and a spot at officer candidate school after
graduation.

- Serve at least four years of active duty. Attend summer training. Complete required Air
Force General Military and Professional Officer courses.

Benefits of ROTC
- ROTC programs provide students with significant opportunities and benefits. Participants
in ROTC receive valuable training as well as financial support for their education. They
are supported in the development of strong personal traits such as self-discipline,
confidence, and leadership.
- ROTC programs provide students with significant opportunities and benefits. Participants
in ROTC receive valuable training as well as financial support for their education. They
are supported in the development of strong personal traits such as self-discipline,
confidence, and leadership.
- By participating in ROTC concurrently with your college education, you can enter the
reserves or active duty forces with advanced ranking. Additionally, ROTC provides
money for college tuition. Because of this, many students choose ROTC as a way to
combine their sense of purpose and duty with a way to pay for their college education.
- Brig. Gen. Rolando Rodil, commander of the AFP Reserve Command, a graduate of the
ROTC himself, confessed to being dismayed when Congress moved to repeal it. “When
the ROTC became optional, government sort of abdicated its only opportunity to
inculcate the values of patriotism, nationalism, character-building,” he said during the
Philippine News Agency’s Pros and Cons episode aired online.
- President Rodrigo Duterte again voiced his determination to make the Reserved
Officers Training Corps program mandatory for students. In a speech on Thursday,
November 22, he called on Congress to pass a law which would require ROTC training
for grade 11 and 12 students. "I likewise encourage Congress to enact a law that will
require mandatory ROTC for Grades 11 and 12 so we can instill patriotism, love of
country among our youth," he said during the anniversary of the Army Reserve
Command in Cavite. Duterte also said he was considering issuing an executive order on
mandatory ROTC, if Malacañang lawyers say doing so is legal. “If it can be done through
an EO, maybe I will be forced to issue one if they do not act on it. I said that this is a
constitutional requirement that you must prepare to defend your country," he said.
- Even as a presidential candidate, Duterte had been supportive of mandatory ROTC,
even saying it would augment Philippine forces to repel Chinese aggression in the West
Philippine Sea.