ACT Teachers Representatives Antonio Tinio and France Castro slammed the passage of House Bill 8961 on third reading 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.
“On the first day of the resumption of session in Congress, another anti-student and anti-people policy was approved on 3rd reading. The passage of this measure and the institutionalization of the mandatory ROTC for senior high will only expose the youth to more harassment in their schools,” Tinio said.
Proponents of the bill insist that having mandatory ROTC will instill nationalism in the youth yet they swiftly removed subjects on Philippine history and Philippine literature in the curriculum. Mandatory ROTC will not teach the youth love of country, instead it would teach them how to be blind followers and discourage critical thinking.
“The Duterte administration should be reminded of why mandatory ROTC was removed in college in the first place. There was a great number of students, teachers, parents and other concerned citizens who joined a series of massive protest actions against the murder of University of Santo Tomas (UST) student,” he added.
“We reiterate our call to abolish ROTC. In these times where no less than the president espouses and practices misogyny and fascism, it is dangerous for the Filipino youth to be exposed to such a program. We call on the Filipino youth to help us amplify our voice in our fight against state violence and hold accountable Duterte’s macho-fascist regime,” Castro said. (pr)
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