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Why
ROTC should be abolished
Position paper submitted to the House Committee on Higher and
Technical Education
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8. Simple
reforms and dole-out concessions will not preserve the whole integrity
of the institution.
Although we
recognize the fact that ROTC is a bastion of national defense
and bulk of country's reserve commands come from its graduates,
abolishing ROTC is not weakening the AFP. But rather, giving the
AFP the necessary space to re-think, reflect and re-assess the
way ROTC has been handled since 1935.
The abolition
of ROTC is sought to restore the integrity of the institution,
as it is a reflection of a national dissatisfaction about the
military and police as a deeply flawed institution trying to rise
above suspicion.
One with our
school administrators, we echo the same believe that since invariably
the ROTC is the male student's first brush with the military,
the irregularities and abuses he sees or experiences while taking
part in
the program become the first and lasting-impression of the military:
corrupt, abusive and hiding behind the veneer of nation's defense
system to prey on defenseless civilian.
This impression
does not necessarily do justice to the military at large.
We likewise
reiterate that there must be a way in which the constitutional
end for the formation of a strong civilian complement to national
defense can be realize without abetting a system that has exhibited
not only wear and tear but also squalid signs of corruption and
knavery.
As such, we
call for a reinvention of approaches to fulfill the constitutional
mandate, approaches which will be more responsive to the realities
not only of national defense, but of national development goals
and needs as well.
With these
arguments at hand, we urge you, our humble representatives and
members of the Committee on Higher and Technical Education to
look at the merit of the our demands. We would like to make an
appeal to each and every one to listen to our voices saying "we
don't want ROTC."
Hence, we
urge you to:
1. Establish
a moratorium on the ROTC program, with a view to completely abolish
such through legislation and provide an alternative program for
national defense and civilian armed forces.
2. Push for
the investigation of alleged malpractice, abuses and corruption
in the ROTC program in aid of legislation as well as deliver swift
and speedy justice to the death of Mark Welson Chua and other
undocumented cases.
3. Enact enabling
law to abolish the ROTC program.
Signed:
GARI R. LAZARO
Secretary General
Student Council Alliance of the Philippines
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