1. A Brief Position Paper Against the Reinstatement of the Mandatory
Reserve Officers Training Corps Program
Taken from the Student Council Approved Resolution No. 2007-25, adopted
July 11, 2007
With the pending bill in both Houses of Congress, we, as Lasallians, do not
support the plan to reinstate mandatory ROTC and repeal the National
Service Training Program due to the following reasons:
1. We believe that repealing the National Service Training Program and
making ROTC mandatory curtail the freedom of students in choosing
how they best serve the country.
2. “Patriotic ideals and love for country” are not only imbibed in military
training, but also in the Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)
component of NSTP, where students take part in nation building and
social transformation.
In De La Salle University alone, since the implementation of NSTP, an
average of 1,554.5 individuals per term was helped through basic
education and social services to the community. Moreover, 82.22% of
students who had enrolled in CWTS said that the program was
effective in instilling social action (The NSTP-CWTS Experience of De
La Salle University: Teaching Minds, Touching Hearts, Transforming
Lives, 2007).
3. ROTC is not the only program or venue where students learn
discipline. In fact, it is assumed that the youth are already disciplined
and mature individuals when they enter the tertiary level.
4. Mandatory ROTC may not prove to be effective in assisting the Armed
Forces of the Philippines in maintaining peace and order in the
country, especially in times of war. The rationale behind this is that
not all members of the reserves may be prepared because of the
involuntary service and the lack of passion to learn the military
activities. In addition, these members have their own comparative
advantages and wasting their skills in other activities may not prove
to be helpful.
5. We are against the possibility that students may be used for brute
force or hostile activities in the future.
We, as Lasallians, recommend the following proposals:
1. We ask for the administration of Higher Education Institutions,
parents and students to release a stand regarding the pending bills on
mandatory ROTC in the tertiary level to the concerned government

2. agencies.
2. We call on Congress not to repeal Republic Act No. 9163 or the
National Service Training Program.
3. We call on the concerned government agencies to develop an ROTC
program or course that will encourage and entice the youth to join the
Armed Forces of the Philippines so that the number of ROTC enrollees
and the number of armed forces may increase. The curriculum may
include various leadership development activities that will equip the
students for any leadership roles, voluntary adventure activities that
will aid in the students’ training and physical fitness and other skills
and classroom sessions that will develop patriotism, besides the
education on military training, tactics and operations in the classroom
and the field.
4. We also call on the concerned government agencies to develop
incentive systems such as scholarships and lower expenses on the
needed materials when enrolled in the ROTC program.
5. We encourage all Higher Education Institutions to conduct an
objective orientation before the start of the school year that will brief
the incoming freshmen about the benefits of joining the ROTC
program and CWTS program.