Who enjoys ROTC?
“Amid fresh calls for the complete abolition of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), the military will celebrate on Saturday, Mar 15, the 102nd anniversary of the program in Camp Aguinaldo,” reports Alexis Romero on Philstar.com.
The report said “about 2,000 cadets from different colleges and universities in Metro Manila will participate in the anniversary of the embattled training program.”
Last month, student demonstrations were held at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), as a female freshman said she was hit on the leg seven times with a wooden rifle by two ROTC officers for failing to attend a briefing night.
Activists have even started a signature drive against the military trainings, which is part of the National Service Training Program (NSTP).
The report noted: “Established in 1912, the once mandatory ROTC became optional following the death of University of Santo Tomas (UST) student Mark Chua, who was killed in 2001 for exposing the irregularities in his unit.”
