As the senate pushes to implement the mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps, Senator Ronald Dela Rosa eyed celebrity reservists to serve as instructors to augment the lack of personnel.
According to the senator, the presence of these celebrity reservists will give inspiration to students to would take up the proposed mandatory ROTC.
In a radio interview, Dela Rosa said that such actors like 2nd Lieutenant Matteo Guidicelli can go through an Instructors Development Course (IDC) as he is an Army reservist who was trained under the Scout Rangers and the Presidential Security Group.
Also, beauty queens such as Miss Hispanoamericana 2017 Winwyn Marquez and Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Beatrice Luigi Gomez, who underwent basic military training and got recognized for their exemplary performances, can be tapped to become instructors for ROTC.
In reaction to the Department of National Defense's (DND) fears about not having enough personnel for the estimated 2,400 schools nationwide, Dela Rosa said that the mentioned celebrities are enough to become instructors as they can undergo IDC and will be given an allowance.
The senator ensured that there will be no abuses such as hazing for there are enough safeguards in his proposed Senate Bill No. 1349, the Reserve Officers Training Corps for Tertiary Education Act of 2022, and the five other ROTC measures by his colleagues.
Committees will also be assigned to every school consisting of DND representatives, school administrations, and the Commission on Higher Education to handle complaints.
In his proposed bill, Dela Rosa said that mandatory ROTC training will be taught environmental care, disaster response, and moral values.
Meanwhile, the senator anticipates that the measure will pass, emphasizing that it is President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s priority measure.
