(Eagle News)–Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Monday, Aug. 26, emphasized the importance of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Program to instill patriotism in the youth.
“The highest tribute we can give our heroes is to perpetuate their legacy by ensuring that their good deeds are not forgotten but instead perpetuated and emulated,” Lorenzana said in his National Heroes Day message.
He said ROTC “can teach our youths leadership, discipline, respect for authority and service to country.”
He noted the sacrifice of Filipino soldiers as “we continue to defend and protect what (heroes) won for us by addressing any and all threats to our safety and security.”
“The act of defiance against foreign domination by our forefathers despite overwhelming odds planted the seed of Filipino nationhood that evolved to become what we are now,” Lorenzana said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has been vocal about what he said was the need for mandatory ROTC for select students.
PBA Partylist Rep. Jericho Nograles, who has refiled a bill in the House proposing the implementation, has said the government would need at least P16 billion for a mandatory ROTC for senior high school students in both public and private schools in the country.
