President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday has certified the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) bill as urgent, according to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
Under the Senate Bill No. 2232, the ROTC program will be made mandatory for Grade 11 and 12 students.
Currently, ROTC is an optional program for high school students.
Reacting to claims made by some sectors that making ROTC mandatory violates international law, the Department of National Defense (DND) said: “It is the DND’s position that those opposed to the proposed bill are using a myopic interpretation of the law, which misleads the public into forming false perceptions and ill-informed opinions.
“The proposed bill was vetted by the DOJ, DND, DepED, and DFA (departments of justice, national defense, education, and foreign affairs) to ensure that it does not contravene the Philippine constitution and international conventions,” Arsenio Andolong told PNA.
