Vice Presidential Aspirant and a reserved military officer, Sara Duterte-Carpio eyes the reimposition of mandatory military service for adults. If elected in 2022, she would use the Office of the Vice President to push for the said agenda in Congress. We believe that this program is impractical and unnecessary. Imposing mandatory military service is repression of personal freedom and entails blind obedience. It would serve as a breeding ground for abuse among youth in the early stages of their life.
It is also important to note the statement of Duterte-Carpio, who made clear during the Manila Virtual Caravan that the military service she is pertaining to, “should not just be like ROTC, where it’s just one subject or one weekend or a month in a year.”
Written as a starting tenet, the Republic Act No. 9163 or the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001 provides optional military service for college students. In NSTP, students may opt to take Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS), and Literacy Training Service (LTS)—which focuses more on social and civic works—or undergo military training under Reserve-Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). While it is also true that the government can require citizens to undergo personal, military, or civil service, based on what the constitution stipulates under Article II Section 4. We believe that RA 9163 allows students to exercise their academic freedom, instead of having no other choice but to be obliged to take military training.
In line with this, Karapatan Secretary General, Cristina Palabay expressed opposition to mandatory military service or conscription. She cited, “the current prevalent repressive military institutions [in the Philippines] will not only bring about involuntary servitude or force[d] labor”. She also added that “It violates basic civil and political rights such as the right to freedom of thought, beliefs, and conscience, especially if you are forced to provide service or fight in unjust wars or repressive endeavors of the State.” This is indeed true, conscription does not only invalidates freedom of choice in a democratic country but also entails blind obedience or involuntary servitude.
Why should we force the youth to undergo such training, when NSTP already offers a variety of choices with the same goal—instilling patriotism, love of country, and service. Let me quote former Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., one who committed to abolishing the mandatory ROTC. He said then, “I believe students should instead have the option to take up community service or related subjects that will enhance their performance of civic duties.” Perhaps, we already have Reserve Armed Forces or military reservists through ROTC and other services offered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Reserve Command under the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) itself.
Aside from the aforementioned tenets, there are also many documented cases of military abuses, harassment, hazing, and maltreatment among cadets. Take for instance the death of Darwin Dormitorio in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), and 22 other wounded 4th Class freshmen. This incident involved thirty-eight 3rd Class cadets and seven cadets each from 2nd and 1st Class who were subjected to investigation in 2019. Meanwhile, two cadets were convicted of homicide in 2002 after the death of Cadet 4th Class Edward Domingo alongside Cadet 4th Class Monico de Guzman in 2001, at the same academy.
One concrete piece of evidence that manifests all of these claims involves the discontinuation of mandatory ROTC in 2001 after the death of Mark Welson Chua, a University of Santo Thomas student. It was reported that Chua, with his fellow cadet Romulo Yumul, exposed the corruption in their university’s ROTC program through “The Varsitarian”, on February 21, 2001. Chua went missing after the issue was published. On March 18, 2001, his body was found floating in the Pasig River, wrapped in a carpet, his hands were tied, and his face was covered with masking tape. It was later in 2004, that a Manila court found ROTC cadet Arnufo Aparri Jr. guilty of murdering Chua. With all of this given data and instances, we fear that some cadets who will be forced to undergo military service will experience the same ill fate.
Others may argue that the good thing about this mandatory service is providing cadets their allowances in return for their training and service to the nation. However, we must also consider that the country will lose big-time whenever the program fails—or fails again. Is it worth the risk? And is a stipend for each student worth it to disregard individual freedom and all of the risks, and long-term or short-term bad effects conscription will bring?
Mandatory military service is impractical, unnecessary, and promotes blind obedience or involuntary service. It only restrains the youth from attaining their full potential by denying them the freedom to choose. It would only do more harm than good, especially with the current system we have in our military institutions. Instead, we recommend that Mayor Duterte-Carpio should advocate for a clean, safe, and healthy military environment for the cadets, especially in the PMA, AFP, and other military institutions. If elected as VP, it is best if she would support and strengthen the NSTP Act, particularly with regard to its funding and community support. She should instead push a proposal in Congress to honor or give due credit through rewards and recognition of the exemplary projects or community service projects done by NSTP students or cadets.
In this manner, students did not only exercise their freedom of choice but also developed patriotism, love of country, and service; and even improved the quality of life in their community—the end goal and initiative that we need today.
