ROTC bill marches on in the Senate after Marcos’ nod

The proposed mandatory conduct of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) in higher education institutions will now be prioritized in the Senate once the sessions resume in November, according to Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino.

“With the President’s go signal, the ROTC bill has been moved to Tier 1 from Tier 2 in the list of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC)—making it a top priority. So, when the session resumes, we expect to discuss it right away,” the senator said in a statement.

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Tolentino noted key aspects such as the program’s duration and curriculum—covering topics like climate change, disaster preparedness, and civics—are under consideration. He also proposed resource pooling for smaller colleges to ensure the program’s implementation.

“We can make the first year the basic course, followed by advanced training in the second year. For those who wish to specialize further, we can introduce an Executive ROTC curriculum,” explained Tolentino, a brigadier general reservist.

The senator expressed confidence that there are enough numbers in the upper chamber to approve the measure, which was filed under Senate Bill (SB) No. 2034, whose counterpart legislation in the House of Representatives already passed third reading.

SB 2034 is currently pending on second reading at the Senate since March 2023. Tolentino authored the bill along with Senators Robinhood Padilla, Jinggoy Estrada, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Ronald dela Rosa, and Sherwin Gatchalian.

Meanwhile, Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara reaffirmed that both the Senate and House of Representatives versions of the ROTC bill would cover colleges and technical-vocational institutions (TVIs).

“I believe both the House and Senate bills extend ROTC to post-secondary education, meaning both college and tech-voc institutions,” Angara said.

The House version, passed in 2022, proposes the creation of a National Citizens Service Training (NCST) program, to be implemented by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

This will be done in consultation with the Department of National Defense (DND). The Senate version, however, mandates ROTC for all tertiary students in both higher learning institutions and vocational schools.

Last July, Angara stated that he is waiting on a final decision from the 19^th Congress regarding the bill. “We are ready to follow whatever policy direction Congress sets,” he said in an interview.