Senator Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa on Monday said that hearing the sentiments of youth groups against the implementation of Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) in college institutions is enough.
"Pinakinggan ka namin. Tama na yung pinakinggan ka at least nalaman namin yung side ninyo. Kung ayaw niyo ng ROTC, gusto naman namin ng ROTC," the senator said after being asked if he will consider suggestions from groups.
Among the raised propositions was from Student Council Alliance of the Philippines (SCAP) Chairperson Ken Paolo Gilo in which he prefers expansion of the National Service Training Program (NSTP) than bringing back ROTC.
&ldquo;We support the call to expand NSTP instead. Students who want to be reserve officers, community volunteers, or teachers should all be supported,&rdquo; Gilo said.
Instead of spending funds on the planned ROTC, it will be better to allot the money to provide additional classrooms.
"Instead of adding a budget for two years of ROTC, why not repurpose these funds and address the 91,000 classrooms shortage? This will improve conditions of our schools and for the hundreds of thousands of learners who cannot afford a college education," he added.
Dela Rosa, however, indicated the ineffectiveness of NSTP as youths still have low literacy rate.
"Maganda sana ang purpose niyan pero siguro sa implementation [is the problem]," the senator said.

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'Tama na yung pinakinggan' Bato flares up to anti-ROTC youth groups