There is too much brouhaha over the proposed mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps or ROTC.

Back in December 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte renewed his call on Congress to pass the mandatory ROTC program in public and private senior high schools to promote gallantry, bravery and the spirit of volunteerism among the Filipino youth.

The 17th Congress approved its measure reviving the mandatory ROTC in June of the same year, but the Senate failed to pass its version of the bill despite then-president Duterte certifying it as urgent
Fast forward to 2022, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., in his first State of the Nation Address, pushed Congress to make the ROTC program mandatory at the senior high school level.

"The aim is to motivate, train, organize, and mobilize the students for national defense preparedness, including disaster preparedness and capacity building for risk-related situations," he was quoted as saying.

Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, who also sits as Department of Education Secretary, is on the same page saying, the ROTC will invigorate the youths' sense of nationalism and patriotism necessary in defending the State and further promote their vital role in nation-building.

Not all are in unison, though. Big dreams come with huge challenges.

Makabayan bloc members at the Lower House of Representatives claim the ROTC is a citizen soldier training disguised as a civilian program. Their argument includes what they described as well-founded abolition of the ROTC after Mark Welson Chua and Romulo Yumul, students of University of Santo Tomas, filed a complaint of anomalies and abuse at the school's ROTC program.

Another Makabayan solon prefers 'Scouting' over ROTC because the former is headed by institutions that do not resort to red-tagging and threats to individuals and organizations. For what reason the "red-tagging" contention comes into play is predictable.

While the bloc asolons imply that ROTC propagates a culture of violence, impunity, and corruption, the well-admired Philippine Army chief, Lt. General Romeo Brawner Jr. made a crystal clear statement — that the ROTC program is a step forward that will provide the country with a trained and competent reserve force.

Following the lessons learned from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he said a competent reserve force with burning patriotism is important in the defense of our country, not just from security threats but also from disasters and calamities.

In a worldwide phenomenon wherein the youth are too engrossed in social media, Brawner said children spend much time on virtual games over traditional play, and activities in touch with practical life lessons like knot-tying, artificial fire-making, and other basic skills.

Be that as it may, everyone awaits the progress of the Senate version of the ROTC bill. At the Lower House of Congress, a joint House panel approved on 6 December, but subject to amendments, a bill that would make the National Citizens Service Training Program mandatory for all college students and leave the ROTC as an option.

Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian's Senate Bill 1551 or the Mandatory Basic ROTC Act,

restoring a compulsory two-year military training program in tertiary schools nationwide aims to teach discipline and love for our country among the youth, who will lead the country in the future.

A total of 26 proposed measures were consolidated by Congress committees on Technical and Higher Education and Basic Education and Culture with House Bill 6486 as the mother bill that seeks to enhance the NCSTP and revive the ROTC.

Once and for all, NTSP, ROTC, or whatever our legislators would call it, a mandatory training that will develop competent leaders and community prime movers with the right sense of patriotism is what a volatile Philippines needs right now.

Marching, parading and military science lectures aren't pointless rudiments.