Dear Sir/Ma'am,

I am Cadet Ronald Gian Carlo Lapitan Cardema of the Philippine Military Academy. I finished my secondary education at the Maquiling School Inc in Los Banos where I graduated at the top of my class in academics, was also the CAT Corps Commander and H.S. Class President. I immediately entered UPLB as a Bs Biology Student with student no. 2002-66839. I also took time to join the Prestigious UP ROTC as a Cadet Officer. It was only the first year of the NSTP Program and therefore there were still cadets numbering to more or less a thousand. It was a successful program for both male and female cadets in the field of nationalism and military preparedness. The UP ROTC is unlike the others, especially the UPLB ROTC which was the first ROTC unit in the Philippines. It is noted in history that the cadets of the UPLB ROTC in the mid 1940's were the one's responsible for the liberation of Los Banos, Calamba, Bay, Sta Cruz and many parts of region 4. The UP ROTC produced 4 AFP Chief s of Staff, wherein, specifically, the one from UPLB ROTC was the longest of those tours of duty, 9 1/2 years(a record which is not yet broken until this time) which was Gen. Romeo Espino, BS Agriculture '38. UP ROTC also produced Presidents of the Philippines, Senators, Cabinet Secretaries, Chief Justices, Congressmen, and other leaders in the field of Science, Law, Foreign Relations, Military, Business..etc etc...

OUR ROTC IS THE BEST IN THE LAND NOT ONLY BECAUSE IT IS THE FIRST ROTC UNIT IN THE PHILIPPINES BUT ALSO BECAUSE OUR ROTC WAS THE MOST PROFESSIONAL ONE AND IS COMPOSED OF THE MOST INTELLIGENT CADET OFFICERS AND REGULAR CADETS IN THE LAND.

It is in UP ROTC that all freshman or sophomore learned about the Long and Great Traditions of the University of the Philippines. It is in our ROTC where they learned, sang and marched in the tunes of UP Beloved, UP Naming Mahal, and Push on UP.. It is in our ROTC where they learned how to salute and honor the Philippine Flag, National Anthem and the UP Flag...It is only in our ROTC where the long tradition of having Diplomats, Generals, High Gov't Officials, UP President, UP Chancellors and other UP administrators as guest of honors and in return, the cadets march snappily to give you the best Testimonial Parade and Reviews in the land.

It is in UP ROTC where we learned about nationalism, pride for the Republic and the University, learned to have discipline to support the Constitution, the Government and the University ( also its administrators and regulations) rather than outright activism, rallies and demonstrations. (Activism is good but not like the ones done today where even small issues of the government, of the UP administration and of the Chancellors' is given too much demonstrations). MOST OF THOSE DEMONSTRATORS TODAY HAVE NOT UNDERGONE ROTC, HAVE NOT BEEN INCULCATED WITH ACADEMIC CONSCIOUSNESS AND PRIDE FOR THE REPUBLIC AND MOST SPECIALLY PRIDE FOR BEING A UP STUDENT..More than half of them are either dismissed from UP because of low grades and excessive absences or by their negative outlook towards government wherein they tend to join mass demonstrations everytime or go to the mountain camps to join our communist brothers. (I am not against our communist brothers because they too have their own idea for a better nation but it is not acceptable that many of our scholars are going out of the university, and instead of studying to have a better future tend to struggle seriously if not in demonstrations, in real armed struggle. OTHERS ALSO WHO HAVE NOT KNOWN ROTC BUT NOT HAVE JOINED STUDENT ACTIVISMS HAVE TEND TO BECOME A GROWING GROUP OF MEDIOCRES NOT ONLY IN ACADEMICS BUT ALSO IN VALUES. Some tend to try different illegal drugs and others become perverted to pornographic materials or have wasted all their nights and weekends to gimmicks and parties wherein some of the outcomes are teenage pregnancies..

FROM MY QUESTION-TITLE, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ROTC IN THE PHILIPPINES...I EXTEND IT TO WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR VALUES, PRIDE AND NATIONALISM.....ALL I KNOW IS THAT ROTC IS A MAJOR TRAINING GROUND FOR VALUES, PRIDE, AND NATIONALISM....AND ROTC IS NOW IN ITS FINAL STAGE OF LIFE BECAUSE OF THE WEAKENING OF IT BY ONLY GIVING SUPPORT TO THE "CIVIC WELWARE SERVICE" AND "LITERACY TRAINING SERVICE"......

I WAS ALSO STUNNED BY THE ABOLITION OF CAT/PMT IN HIGH SCHOOLS JUST AFTER THE RELEASE OF DEP ED MEMORANDUMS THIS YEAR PROHIBITING THE ORGANIZATION OF CADET OFFICERS, COCCs, DRILLS, CEREMONIES, BIVOUCS, AND USE OF CAT UNIFORMS. THE CAT/PMT WHICH ALL GIRLS AND BOYS OF THIS COUNTRY (FROM 16 YEARS OLD TO THE OLDEST LIVING) HAS UNDERGONE AND SOMEHOW HAVE BEEN PART OF THEIR FORMATIVE YEARS IN EDUCATION, LEADERSHIP SKILLS AND DISCIPLINE IS NOW GONE AND IS REPLACED BY A CLASSROOM LECTURE ON COMMUNITY SERVICE.....


WITH THE SPEED OF GROWING YOUTH DELINQUENCIES AND POOR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DISCIPLINE, LEADERSHIP, COMRADESHIP, & NATIONALISM.................WHAT WILL YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN TO THE FUTURE OF OUR REPUBLIC......ALSO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE ONLY SOURCE OF PREMILITARY AND RESERVE FORCES (CAT AND ROTC) IS NOW ABOUT TO BE KILLED-IN-ACTION...WHY WAS IT DONE SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE AGING STATE OF THE DEFENSE CAPABILITY OF OUR ARMED FORCES specifically the dead planes of the Air Force and the drowning vessels of the navy.


I have reached more issues that i really did not thought of when I wrote the title. Maybe it is because almost all has its roots in CAT and ROTC which is now killed by some Dep Ed officials and some legislators....I remind you sirs that you are only part time members of the Filipino Heritage and all your predecessors, predecessor's predecessor in govt, parents & grandparents who have created it, underwent it and MAINTAINED IT. IF IT WAS REALLY NOT THAT IMPORTANT, WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THE FIRST LEADERS OF THIS REPUBLIC MADE THAT LAW AS THE FIRST LAW OF THE REPUBLIC, THE NATIONAL DEFENSE ACT, which was undergone and maintained by ALL FILIPINOS starting when the Republic was properly organized until the days that some in government last year has signed for its weakening and some in the education sector and schools blindly supported it...

Please revive the CAT and ROTC that most Alive Filipinos and all Filipinos who are dead have supported and cherished so much for the service of this country......

thank you very much,

-from one of today's youth who have been moulded by yesterday's ideals



:patrioticpinoy:

WTF!!! i am a CAT officer myself, this news is very disturbing.. our CAT unit has a very good history and is very rich in tradition... :armysad:

our school (la salle academy) used to have a good CAT history. but it was eventually changed into a Citizen's Advancement Training... instead of marching and doing drills, we would clean gutters, cut grass, gardening, and such...

Gents, I'm impressed with your drive and hope the best for you. Unfortunately, our legislature would rather listen to the enemy and eliminate all manner of "bourgeois nationalism," "fascism," "militarism," and whatever $hit they could think of to advance their rot into our way of life.

But don't lose that fire! The enemy are loud and they get the press coverage, but they can't dominate your minds. You can fight them not by matching whatever they say word for word, but by living the martial life as a monastic calling. For every charge they run against you as a baby-killer, offer candy to children near you. For every rant directed at you, shrug back at them, and excel in you academics. In the end, you will be the guy who will be proving them wrong: they will still be hoarse and chanting their mantras on the street, while you would be driving home after a day's work to your own home, with a pretty wife waiting at the door and a meal on the table.

Hi:

I am for ROTC.

But one that has been reinvented and only optional.
Better to have even one battallion only of well-trained and enthusiastic cadets in every region than the farce that we continue to have today.

The core value proposition of ROTC is one and only one: preparing reserves for the AFP to defend the country in case of war while serving as an alternative path to a career in the officers corps.

Everything else--good citizenship, courtesy and discipline, etc. --can also be taught elsewhere and taught better.

ROTC as we knew it and continue to know it in spite of its allegedly being optional is based on an obsolete notion: the mass army and a pool of conscripts in active service and in the reserves to fill its ranks.

It's now the day of the smart ( as in intelligent and IT-enabled) as well as all-volunteer armed forces. In the US, even the National Guard and the Army reserves are volunteers. And practically everyone in the service is at least a high school graduate.

Hence, training doctrine in the US has now been reinvented to ensure that the US fighting man (and woman) will be both a thinking warrior and a very proficient one. So much so that all in the USMC must now not only be riflemen first but martial arts experts as well.

Sadly, the training in the ROTC is still for soldiers with world outlooks of a bygone age. Hence, either reinvent it or scrap it altogehter.

Ibalik ang ROTC. I am a ROTC evader until I woke up and said to myself "What have you been doing, Manga.. Look how unproductive you are. Do something for the motherland and don't waste your time drinking and smoking. Pinagsisihan ko. Hanggang balik loob na ako. At ang aking tanging panalangin. Kapayapaaan.

IBALIK ANG ROTC. IMUNGKAHI IPASA ANG BILL SA SENADO. LONG LIVE TAYONG LAHAT. LONG LIVE ANG SENADO AT KONGRESO AT HUKUMAN!!

Ang galing mo Cadet Cardema. May your tribe increase. Mabuhay

Tnx man, tnx for the support and criticisms. you can see me in friendster, -caio- cardema. God bless and Mabuhay ang mga Pilipino :patrioticpinoy:

I'm trying to factor this into the report for a possible new defense strategy. In my opinion, it is hopeless to educate much of the populace on the importance of CAT and ROTC. What would be better, in my opinion, is to create a new volunteer force that would make people aware of the importance of such training. Besides the Reserves I propose a better militia (well, let's call it Home Gaurd). I've still to completely write down the stuff but I've posted a bit of it on the Air Force section.

Had similar thoughts. Plan to call them Security Forces.

Is this idea similar to the US National Guard?

In the Philippine setting, a force like this will rapidly degenerate into a political private armies.

National Guards are armies of the state. We don't have states.

Dear Cadet Ronald Cardema,


First, let me congratulate you on your patriotism and your love for the ROTC program. You clearly know your school history and equally proud of it. I wish more students, not just in UP, were more like you.

But I have to disagree with some of the issues you raised.

Just to let you know that students getting into illegal drugs, spending their nights and weekends in beerhouses and other gimmicks and teenage sex have happened not only in UP but also in other colleges long before you and I were born. Having the male students take up ROTC did not stop them from engaging in the above activities.

By the same token, a lot of students have graduated with honors or have gotten good grades without taking ROTC.

Just to let you know that the ROTC was a major source of corruption in most universities and colleges. Magbayad ka lang sa kumandante, exempted ka na sa ROTC.

As someone who had to forcibly go under 4 semesters of ROTC as an ordinary cadet, I just want to tell you that I learned nothing of military value. Binilad lang kami ng ilang Sabado sa init ng araw for nothing. If the ROTC program that I had to undergo was to produce a reservist ready to defend his country, then it certainly failed since once [/I] lang kami nakahawak ng M-16 for our only live firing in Fort Boni.

It would have been better if they just gave us the option to do 1 or 2 semesters of community service instead of the useless ROTC that we had all to undergo through.

ROTC has not been abolished. What Pres GMA has done is to make it voluntary. I agree with Adroth that it will be better to have a small but well-trained ROTC corps of cadets. By making it voluntary, only the cadets who are willing to go intensive and complete military training [I]ang pag-gugulgulan ng pera ng gobyerno sa BCT nila.

As a conclusion, let me say good luck in your ROTC. If you will proceed to become a CO in our AFP, please don't let the system corrupt your values. It will be too easy to succumb to the "culture". Keep your nose clean. Don't forget to look out for the welfare of your men.

Remember that a military man should not become rich. That is why it is called the service!