Venz J.

Escamilla
March 6, 2019

HumSS 11-5M Sir Paolo Danduan

IMPLEMENTING ROTC FOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

According to Republic Act 9163, Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) in

the Philippines is one of three components of the National Service Training Program,
the civic education and defense preparedness program for Filipino college students.
After the K-12 Program was enacted, students who are 17-year-old and up of the Senior
High School were also students who are 17-year-old of the freshmen college before its
implementation. Today, it would be a delay if ROTC begins when a student reaches his/
her freshman year in college. So why not start them young?

First and foremost, Section 4 Article 2 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution on

Declaration of Principles and State Policies Principles states that “the prime duty of the
Government is to serve and protect the people. The Government may call upon the
people to defend the State and, in the fulfillment thereof, all citizens may be required,
under conditions provided by law, to render personal military or civil service.” A citizen
will always be required to defend the country when the government requires. The State
shall secure the preparedness of every individual before placing it citizens in the front
row of the battlefield. ROTC provide military education and training for students to
mobilize them for national defense preparedness. Its specific objectives include
preparation of college students for service in the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the
event of an emergency and their training to become reservists and potential
commissioned officers of the AFP. Secondly, it trains the youth to be disciplined.
Discipline brings stability and structure into a person’s life. It teaches a person to be
responsible and respectful. The observance of well-defined rules is the basis of society.
If there were no discipline, people would do whatever they wanted and make mistakes
without putting the consideration of others first and foremost. It promotes good human
behavior to better society and make it a more enjoyable place for everyone to live.
Lastly, it instils nationalism and patriotism to the youth. These make one to think only of
one’s country’s virtues and not its deficiencies. These can also make one contemptuous
of the virtues of other nations. These pertains to value responsibilities rather than just
valuing loyalty towards one’s own country. These makes one try to find justification for
mistakes made in the past and to understand both the shortcomings and improvements
made by every happenings which results the present situation of every nation.

To wrap it up, implementing ROTC for Senior High School is a must because it
will abide the Constitution’s mandate, train the youth to be prepared and disciplined and
instil within them patriotism and nationalism. After all, being a youth is a very important
period of life. It is a period where the youth learn an enormous amount about the
everyday world. It is when they acquire lifelong attitudes towards themselves, towards
others and towards learning. We shall start the youth young.