ESTRADA, ZUHARRA JANE, CATUGAL

BS IN CRIMINOLOGY 1A
SEPTEMBER 29, 2002
BOGO, MARIA, SIQUIJOR
DIEGO BATION ESTRADA

The Reserve Officer Training Corps, or ROTC, is one of three components of the
Philippines' National Service Training Program. It is the section of the program that focuses
on civic education and defense preparedness for Filipino college students. Essentially, the
purpose of the ROTC component is to provide military instruction and training to students in
order to mobilize them for national defense preparation. This component's goals include
preparing college students for emergency duty in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),
as well as their training to become reservists and possible commissioned officers in the AFP.
It teaches students not just discipline, but also a way of life that can serve as the foundation
for their future endeavors. It serves as a bridge between responsibility and patriotism for the
masses and gives way to educating college students about national and civil conflict as well
as understanding on both sides.

These lessons do not affect my perspective as a future reservist in the Armed Forces of the
Philippines, but instead mold me to become a strong and independent woman. We, the
youths, the cadets, have been chosen to be our country's future leaders and to be its hope.
The ROTC cadets represent the epitome of a perfect Filipino who contributes to the
advancement of the country while maintaining unity among Filipinos. This demonstrates that
ROTC cadets, as future reservists, are the embodiment of a model citizen. A citizen with a
heart to sympathize with his fellow Filipinos and a soldier with patriotism to maintain the
country's peace and order. We can be young heroes.

This ROTC program piqued my interest as a criminology student. This program aims to
create high-quality commissioned officers for the Philippine Armed Forces. These
criminology courses are aimed at helping students enhance their leadership, discipline, and
community awareness skills in response to the community's catastrophe risk reduction
program. Through ROTC, we learned camaraderie and respect between brothers and
sisters, and that this is more than just bathing in the sun for hours-it is also to perform and
implement the military lifestyle and the professionalism of men in uniform. To experience and
understand what the training is all about is what serving the country truly means. The ROTC
program also improves skills, demonstrates knowledge of one's own talents, and is an
excellent way to show off one's ability. ROTC instills in us the ability to be altruistic, to
appreciate candor and bravery, and to be confident in our ability to serve our country.

My only concern with this lesson is whether or not hazing is widespread and is being
practiced on ROTC cadets. Because of the dangers associated with ROTC, as I heard on
the news and as other people think when they hear the phrase, most parents do not want
their children enrolled in the program. All of these beliefs were imprinted on people's minds
as a result of an incident that occurred many years ago, in which Cadet Mark Chua of the
University of Santo Tomas was slain after exposing corruption in the ROTC. Controversies
about hazing, abuses by trainers and cadet officers, corruption, among others, arose after
the incident. We can't blame people for thinking this way about ROTC because of the issue
of violence and abuses that have given the idea that the program isn't good and that the
students aren't learning anything other than marching and holding rifles on the field in the
deadly and stifling heat. Despite this, I don't think it changed my mind about entering ROTC
since, first and foremost, I already know that my chosen course, criminology, is about to go
through ROTC or advanced ROTC in order to prepare, create leadership, discipline, honor,
respect, and a sense of responsibility. I am confident that the ROTC program will greatly
assist us (criminology students) in achieving our goals in college and becoming one of the
aspiring police officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) or Armed Forces of the
Philippines in the near future. I support the program's adoption because I feel that military
training creates not only discipline but also chivalry, which appears to be on the decline
among us young people in modern times. All of the marching and numerous formations that
ROTC cadets perform under the scorching sun have a purpose. Leadership skills, teamwork
and unity are developed, and the grueling exercises instill the value of discipline and
sacrifice to achieve common objectives.

The program and concepts of ROTC have taught me the qualities of discipline, honor,
respect, and a feeling of responsibility. Aside from that, students in the program learn and
enhance their time management skills as they become more focused and concentrated not
only on their academics but also on their social development. I know that these beliefs and
principles can be attained through ROTC. Students who are undergoing disciplinary and
military training are expected to show strict respect for higher authority as well as self-
discipline. It is critical to restore the previous splendor of citizen military training, free of all
the negative aspects that have damaged its reputation. Furthermore, students gain and learn
basic defense abilities and training that are needed for one's defense and safety as part of
ROTC and as military training is implemented. ROTC programs are a key component of
implementing the "citizen soldier" idea by providing officers who have received training from
a variety of civilian schools. ROTC keeps the military officer corps from being isolated from
everyday life in the Philippines. As a result, I feel the Reserve Officer Training Corps, or
ROTC, is still important today. Respect, honor, discipline, and a sense of responsibility are
values and principles that I believe can be acquired through the program, as it is obvious
that the current generation of youth does not place a high value on them. The program
requires general acceptance as well as the correction of popular misconceptions about it.
Furthermore, the public must recognize the importance of ROTC in our country's
development and security, necessitating enhancements to the program and the
implementation of appropriate precautions to avoid fresh issues.