The Patriotic Truth: The problem that ROTC aims to solve

Recently, Senator Imee Marcos has addressed the ­Senate concerning the bill on the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). “‘Yung mandatory ROTC, hindi ko matanggap eh… for me, you really cannot force a kid to become a soldier (I ­really can’t accept manda­tory ROTC…for me, you really can’t force a kid to become a soldier),” the senator stated.

She is not the only one who is concerned by this; many Filipinos who oppose the reimplementation of the ROTC argue that sticking with the status quo, meaning voluntary, is the best option because it is unconstitutional to make it mandatory.

The future leaders of this nation need to love the ­Philippines first before they start to think of running for a position. It was nationalism that spurred our forefathers to defend our nation from the ­Spanish, American, and ­Japanese colonizations. It will be ­nationalism that’ll lead the future generation to make it great.

Now that I have talked about the importance of nationalism, we need a way to reinstill those values to our youth. This is why the reinstatement of the mandatory ROTC is a good way to rekindle this.

A sense of nationalism will help the Filipinos unite and aid one another. ­Together, everyone will be prepared to defend the future of the ­Philippines. No one will be left behind, however rich or poor you are, because this nation belongs to all Filipinos.

The main concern, on the other hand, of the opposing side is that the new ROTC will mirror the previous problem of being a breeding ground of corruption. I strongly believe that our President will not let that slide.

Love him or hate him, he has consistently mentioned that corruption is one of the biggest concerns that he will address throughout his term. Would you really believe that our President, a man who helped improve his home Davao City, will allow this program to be a source of evil? This will surely ruin his image among the Filipinos and the whole world. So, we can expect that this new version of ROTC will have stricter regulations which will ensure that no misdeeds are being done.

In the end, nationalism will play a big part in the future of our country. This will drive our future leaders to fulfill their duty to the Filipino people. Instilling this value at a young age, through ROTC, is a good way to make sure that the youth will always put their country above everything else.

Story by Gabe Tumanan