LIVE: Senate hearing on mandatory ROTC
Click the YouTube link above to watch the live Senate hearing.
MANILA, Philippines – Senators are conducting a hearing on Monday, February 6, on proposals to make the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) mandatory for college students in the Philippines.
The hearing, convened by the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical, and Vocational Education, is joined by officials from the Department of National Defense. Presiding over the hearing is Senator Bato dela Rosa, the first police chief of then-president Rodrigo Duterte and one of the architects of Duterte’s bloody anti-drug campaign.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. included mandatory ROTC among his priority agenda in his first State of the Nation Address, as Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte also pushed for this proposal.
The Vice President’s support for mandatory ROTC has been met with criticism, with activist groups saying compulsory military service sends a strong message that “any dissent will be met with force.” – Rappler.com