(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday reiterated his call for family planning and a mandatory Reserved Officers Training Corps program.
For the first, Duterte said there was a need for this as the country’s resources were “not in parity” with its population.
“Di mag-abot. Even tabla (hindi),” he said during the opening of the Palarong Pambansa in Antique on Sunday.
But the President reserved the specifics at another time, saying that he would discuss this with the Cabinet again.
He added that was not the proper venue to discuss such topics.
Addressing the thousands of mostly student-athletes in the crowd, Duterte also reiterated his support for the ROTC program, which was made optional following the 2001 death of a University of Sto. Tomas student who exposed corruption in the ROTC university chapter.
Mark Chua’s body was fished out from the Pasig River on March 18, 2001.
His corpse was wrapped in a carpet, his face was covered with masking tape, and his hands were tied.
Chua’s body was already in a stage of decomposition when investigators removed the tape from his face.
In 2004, a Manila court handed down the death penalty to fellow student Arnulfo Aparri Jr, while some were put behind bars.
According to Duterte, he was working on a law to “restore” the ROTC program.
“That was really a very shortsighted (thing to do, the making ROTC optional). We could have just investigated, (put those responsible) in prison. Bakit tatanggalin ang ROTC?” he asked.
He said the program enabled the country to have a reserved force who could teach civilians “how to fight” during wartime.
“You have to go back to ROTC..If there is really violence, anarchy, ang makaalam niyan, marunong maghandle ng M16, M14 o mortar ang ROTC. Sila ang magguide sa civilians na walang alam,” he said.
He noted that no one else would defend the country but Filipinos themselves.
Even America, the country’s so-called long-standing ally, he said, will “not die for” Filipinos.
“Kayo ang magsakripisyo. Kunin niyo ang lahat ng pagaaral kung paano ibigin ang bayan ninyo at pagsilihan (ito) kung sakaling kailangan,” he said.
“Or would you rather I come up with a law that would conscript you? You are required by government like those of Israel, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia to undergo military training compulsor(ily). Make a choice,” he added.
