TWELFTH CONGRESS OF THE )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )

SENATE
S. No. _____

Introduced by Senator Renato L. Compañero Cayetano

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Article II, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution mandates 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."

Military training course under the Citizen's Army Training (CAT) and the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) for students enrolled in high schools, colleges and universities and similar institutions of learning, respectively, are mandatory pursuant to the provisions of the National Defense Act (Commonwealth Act No. 1) and Republic Act No. 7077.
The lofty objective of said law was to train all able-bodied students for military skills in case of war. It cannot be disputed, however, that this sixty-six (66) year-old law is anachronistic.

The abolition of both CAT and ROTC is for the benefit by the myriad of students who have had to spend one afternoon a week marching around the school campus. The millions of Filipinos who have gone through this waste of time have yet to receive some plausible evidence for the dubious theory that training in close-order drill turns people into citizen-soldiers with the skills needed to fight the country's enemies like the Abu Sayyaf and the rogue kidnapping syndicates.

Most schools also do not have the necessary equipment to conduct decent military training; and the Department of National Defense has never had the funds to upgrade the training offered. A government that cannot give its soldiers on the front lines enough food and ammunition cannot be expected to spare the money needed to train thousands of cadets in marksmanship. In the absence of money and equipment, one can teach only the parade-ground skill of marching to the beat of a drum and
responding to shouting orders.

Furthermore, the existing programs are no longer responsive to the needs of the present time. It encourages and breeds graft and corruption. Many cadets have paid huge fees to obtain passing marks or to secure exemption from said training. Worst, the program unduly burdens the low-income students who are forced to purchase expensive fatigue uniforms, boots and other military paraphernalia. Some unscrupulous administrators even earn huge sums of money from kickbacks from contracts with
suppliers of these military paraphernalia. Finally, the reported ROTC related violence and death are clear signals that there is something wrong in the program, hence, the need for drastic changes.

While this representation is aware that the CAT and ROTC cadets are ripe sources of reserved officers, the resulting deficiency, should these military programs be abolished, can be addressed by devoting the graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) one hundred percent (100%) to military establishments, rather than giving the cadets the choice to
join other fields like the police force.

Accordingly, the immediate approval of this bill is strongly recommended.

RENATO L. COMPAÑERO CAYETANO
Senator