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ROTC
in the Philippines lay dormant until September 13, 1946,
when Headquarters Philippine Army issued a General Order
reviving pre-war units. When the Philippine Army became
the Armed Forces of the Philippines on December 23,
1950, the Philippines was divided into four Military
Areas. ROTC units operating within these areas fell
under the supervision of their respective Area Commanders.
On
February 8, 1967, President Marcos rescinded Executive
Order No.207 of 1939, and promulgated Executive Order
No.59. The EO made ROTC a mandatory course at all
colleges and universities and other institutions with
an enrollment of 250 male students.
A
noteworthy development during the Marcos years was
a program called the Rainbow
Rangers – Sunday Soldiers. The Metro
Manila-only unit provided an alternative to ceremony-centric
conventional ROTC training, and was one of the earliest
attempts to address inadequacies in the ROTC program.
The UP ROTC formed the RR – SS on September 15,
1968, under the watchful eye of then Captain (later
Brigadier General) Benjamin Vallejo. The unit included
students from other schools, such as long time rival
UST ROTC.
Trainees,
who were all volunteers, were subjected to a more
aggressive, combat-oriented, training regimen that
exposed them to small-unit tactics, unconventional
warfare, and home defense techniques. To add to the
realism, the RRs were given access to real weapons.
Though
based in Manila, it saw action in places as far as
Mindanao. The unit formed the backbone of the “Liberator
Battalion”, that took part in a 3-week peacekeeping
operation in the Lanao provinces during the November
elections in 1971. Members of the battalion reportedly
earned 9 citations for bravery during the operation.
For
the most part, training was conducted at the University
of the Philippines. Towards the end of the unit's
life, the venue was moved to the Metropolitan Citizen
Military Training Command (MCMTC) compound. The unit
was disbanded circa 1983, after General Vallejo’s
retirement.
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