Youths push for expanding NSTP instead reviving mandatory ROTC

MANILA, Philippines — Two youth groups on Monday called for the expansion of the National Service Training Program (NSTP) instead of the revival of the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).

Justine Luis Balane, chair of the Akbayan Youth, explained the idea during a Senate committee hearing on making ROTC compulsory.

“Whatever the students choose — whether ROTC, Civic Welfare Training Service, or Literacy Training Service — all of those are forms of showing one’s love for the country. The youth should be free to choose how they want to serve their motherland,” Balane said in Filipino.

Requiring the ROTC, according to Balane, strips the youth of that freedom…

Keep on reading: Youths push for expanding NSTP instead reviving mandatory ROTC