12 Special Reports
Editor: Lea Mat P. Vicencio
SEPTEMBER 26, 2016
DND call for compulsory ROTC opposed THE DEPARTMENT of National Defense (DND) has called for the implementation of a mandatory Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, saying it instills nationalistic values among college students. DND seeks to make the program a compulsory college requirement anew, heeding President Duterte’s call to strengthen the ROTC program in his State of the Nation Address last July. “We are taking our cue from the President himself. He believes that it is a good vehicle to instill love of country and patriotism and also it will instill a sense of good citizenship in our youth,” DND Public Affairs Office Director Arsenio Andolong said in an interview with the Varsitarian. Col. Roland Rodil of the Armed Forces Retirees and Reservist Affairs Office said Duterte saw the ROTC program as vital in developing discipline. “It is the government’s duty to develop the youth, to develop discipline, to build their character,” Rodil said. Rodil added that higher education institutions should not oppose mandatory ROTC and should instead work with the proponents of the program to improve it. “In case it becomes a law, they should not be first ones to protest against it. [They] are partners of the government in educating the youth. [But] if they have any objections, they should raise it right now,” Rodil said. ROTC was made mandatory by the National Defense Act of 1935, but this law was amended by Republic Act 9163 or the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001, which provided students more options such as Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)
Tigers FROM PAGE 16 University of the East last Sept. 10. Joco Macasaet and Jeepy Faundo, who rode the bench for three years as backups for Abdul, also had their moments in the past four games. Scoreless in the past two seasons, Macasaet is now averaging 5.75 points and 6.5 rebounds. Faundo is norming 5.5 points and 6.5 boards, an improvement from his 0.9 point and 0.9 rebound average in the last three years. Team captain Louie Vigil is having a versatile production of 13.5 points, 5.75 boards, and 3.75 assists. Jamil Sheriff, who has always been deemed an offensive liability for the Tigers, is averaging 8 points and 3 assists, an improvement from his production the past four seasons. “All of them will have their time to shine, though we still have a lot of improvement to do especially in developing their different aspects of play,” Sablan said. Regie Basibas and rookie Oliver de Guzman are showing glimpses of their potential after anchoring the Tigers’ fourth-quarter surge in their 83-77 victory over the University of the Philippines last Sept. 17. Basibas and de Guzman had 11 points apiece. By the numbers But the Tigers have
Kabataan Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago said establishing reservist training grounds in educational institutions like UST would violate International Humanitarian Law. She said international humanitarian law states that “the civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against the dangers arising from military operations.” Elago has filed House Bill 2399, or the ROTC Abolition Act, which aims to scrap ROTC from the options of National Service Training courses and at the same time overhaul the NSTP program by adding other courses. These options include community service, communitybased health and nutrition program, community immersion, disaster preparedness, ecological services and human rights education.
TRAINING. Thomasian cadets assemble on the field to form their platoons.
and Literacy (LTS).
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‘Abuses and corruption’ Akbayan Youth Chairwoman Rafaela David claimed the problems in the reserve program were tethered to the ROTC program itself, describing it as “militarizing” universities. “It is basically militarizing universities and that is precisely what we are against. It is not just the abuses, it is the system that promotes militarization in the campuses na gusto mong pigilan. Naniniwala tayo na ang unibersidad ay dapat espasyo para may kalayaan ang mga estudyante
been careless with the ball, averaging 25.5 turnovers in four outings, a far cry from their league-best 16.4 turnovers per game last year. Top-seed De La Salle University exploited UST’s weakness as it forced the Tigers to 40 turnovers en route to a 100-64 win. The Tigers 84.3 ppg is the league’s worst, with their zone defense easily abused by opposing teams. UST allowed only 64.9 ppg last year and its zone defense, which opens up uncontested perimeter shots, perhaps needs to be revisited. But UST has become a better rebounding and passing team. After a league-worst 40.6 rebounds per game (rpg) last season, the Tigers are now one of the top rebounding squads in the league with 46.3 rpg. The Tigers are also sharing the ball more, dishing out 14.3 assists per game (apg), an improvement from their 11.9 apg last year.
at hindi dapat ito espasyo kung saan kinukulong sila at kumbaga they are forced to fit a certain mold—the mold of a cadet officer,” David told the Varsitarian. David said mandating military training would impede academic freedom as students would have no choice but to take up ROTC. “If you make it mandatory that already stunts their capacity to choose. In the existing system, at least they have the choice to enroll in ROTC, CWTS or LTS, but mandate ROTC and they won’t have the option to serve the country in other means,” David said. Thomasian Mark Welson Chua, a former ROTC cadet, was
Pledge
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PHILIP MARTIN L. MATEL
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Acupuncture, American Academy of Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine, and the American Academy of Functional Medicine before retiring in 2015. Frando is working on two more books. Proceeds from the books will be given to the San Lorenzo Ruiz Charity in Bulacan.
important issues in the country and come up with arguments based on morality, science and history. “We should be open, [s]ee the issues and come up with our own value judgment regarding this issue,” he said. On Sept. 2, ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs reported that 1,327 people have been killed in drug-related incidents. The number of individuals killed in police operations reached 806, while 414 were killed by unknown suspects and 107 were found dead in crime scenes. ROY
THERESE
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International Humanitarian Law
Sea concluded in a meeting last July 12 that China’s “land reclamation” was a clear violation to the Philippines’ sovereign rights. It added the Mischief Reef and the Second Thomas Shoal were part of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The EEZ is one of the main provisions of the 1994 treaty, and is the maritime area over which a state has the right to exploit all of its natural resources. Coastal states have the right to limit the access of foreign nations to these areas. Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, in a previous Varsitarian article, said that China has also violated the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the West Philippine Sea signed between China and Southeast Asian countries in 2002. This document states that all parties should exercise “self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability.”
KATHLEEN PALAPAR
murdered in 2001 for exposing anomalies in the ROTC unit in the University through the Varsitarian. David said the reforms brought about by Mark Welson Chua’s death was a legacy of “democratization of universities.” “If you suddenly bring the ROTC back, it is as if you are disregarding the victory of the past and that is also a disservice to the memory of Mark Chua,” David said. The mandatory ROTC program was abolished in January 2002, a year after Mark Chua’s death in 2001.
ABRAHMN D.R. NARRA
structural component dahil wala nang kemikal na [tatanggapin ang]
‘ROTC can do what NSTP can do’ Supporters of the mandatory ROTC program argued that NSTP were merely parts of the reserve program, adding that civic welfare and literacy training could also be done by reserve cadets. “We can easily duplicate the activities of civic welfare. The AFP or even the army, we are configured to do civic activities,” Col. Edgar Nigos of the UST Department of Military Science and Tactics said in an interview. “We do humanitarian activities, disaster rehabilitation, relief, and during elections we are deputized to work with officials. The military itself is configured to do non-military activities. In the same manner, ROTC is not solely drills and marching and parades,” he said. MA. ANGELA CHRISTA COLOMA and NEIL JAYSON N. SERVALLOS
structure,” he said. In a previous report by the Varsitarian, Science Dean John Donnie Ramos said the vacated spaces in the Main Building would serve as administrative offices, online resource units, faculty rooms and
lecture halls. Construction of the new building, led by Malate-based Construction Company Ironcon Builders and Development Corp., began on Sept. 21, 2015. MIA ARRA C. CAMACHO