SUPPORT ROTC. The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Lambunao has been awarded as Best DRRM Advocate of 2019 by the Office of the Civil Defense Western Visayas. Albert Galan (4th from right) said ROTC graduates or reservists play significant roles in terms of disaster preparations. (PNA photo courtesy of MDRRMC Lambunao)
ILOILO CITY -- A former Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) instructor and now reservist of the Philippine Army (PA) believes that reviving the ROTC program should have been done a long time ago.
In an interview Wednesday, Albert Galan, the municipal disaster risk reduction and management (MDRRM) officer of the municipality of Lambunao, said the ROTC plays a big role in nation-building in terms of instilling discipline.
Likewise, in providing support to various programs of the local government unit (LGU) like disaster preparations; environment such as cleanup drive and tree planting; health like the conduct of blood drive and local community events like fun runs and preparation for fiestas, among others.
“I support more than 100 percent the revival,” he said.
He explained that as an MDRRM officer, in terms of disasters, the reservists serve as the personnel component such as for search and rescue. He emphasized that you cannot find a person in a hard-hit area to volunteer.
“But if they are military trained, once they are called to report on a certain date and time, they will report. The chain of command of the military is different from the chain of command of civilians. The nature of leadership training in the military is different from leadership training in private institutions. The leadership training of the military is one of the most effective leadership trainings,” he said.
He added that military leadership training is not only for military organizations. And if it is effective within the military, then it will be more effective on civilians.
Galan served as an officer of the ROTC in 1998. He graduated in ROTC Advanced Course and as a reserve officer of the Philippine Army in 1992.
He became an ROTC instructor from 1992 until 1998. In 2000, he was the Operations and Intelligence Officer of the West Visayas State University –Lambunao Campus (WVSU-LC) and worked to make Lambunao as an independent unit.
Lambunao, he said was consistent No. 1 or 2 among Category A ROTC units in Western Visayas. Category A means more than 800 cadet-enrollees.
“Upon graduation from ROTC, one automatically becomes a reservist; you will have an assigned serial number,” he said.
In terms of reservists, he said Iloilo has one brigade of reservists (802nd Brigade) and one battalion (1st Ready Battalion) ready to be dispatched.
He added that those who are against the revival of the ROTC could be those who have not experienced it or “tolerate the younger generation” of having too much “freedom” that sometimes they forget to respect the freedom of others.
He said that the problem is the lack of discipline. Galan could not help but compare the products of the ROTC before and the National Service Training Program (NSTP).
He said the NSTP only did not help but it resulted in the deterioration of the youth as it failed to inculcate discipline.
But with the ROTC, deep in your heart, even if they are already graduates, they could still remember the guidance that they learned when it comes to discipline, he said.
“In ROTC you obey not because there are reminders or consequences but you develop that instinct of discipline that you can still use even in private life,” he added.
On Dec. 5, around 2,500 ROTC cadets from selected colleges and universities and uniformed personnel in the country will attend a summit in Quirino Grandstand to celebrate and drum up support for the ROTC.
The event is being organized by the Office of the President through the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) and Presidential Security Group, in coordination with the Department of National Defense and the AFP through the Office of the Reservist and Retiree Affairs (OJ9).
The activity will feature the silent drill competition from among the best in the Philippine Military Academy, Philippine National Police Academy, Philippine Merchant Marine Academy, Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific, Philippine Army Officer Candidate School, Philippine Navy Officer Candidate School, and Philippine Air Force Officer Candidate School.
The units are vying for the top prize of P300,000; the second placer will receive PHP200,000, and the third will get PHP100,000.
A PHP50,000 consolation prize will be given to each of the four other units.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1087245
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