1

Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) has been a long-

standing government program to prepare youth for military

service and to be part of the Armed Forces of the

Philippines (AFP) Reserve Force. The program is expected to

imprint moral values and patriotism to the youth. ROTC also

strives to develop the leadership skills of a student not

only in theory but also as an application to the military

training that the program has.

Military discipline and military courtesy are tenets of

the curriculum, infusing these to produce able-bodied and

military-ready students that can be called to service in

times of need. The country’s disadvantage in terms of

weapons and materials for combat is greatly emphasized when

the Philippines is under threat, therefore at least training

the students to have the capability to fight and defend is a

form of heightening the military capabilities to some

extent. The discipline that ROTC students develop under the

training is tantamount to the maturity of a person,

especially the clarity of mind that they display under

pressure. The ideal ordeal is that students who finished

 2

ROTC can be used as reserves for the AFP or Armed Forces of

the Philippines.

Before the NSTP Law in 2001 was enacted, ROTC was

taking over the colleges and had no civilian welfare and

literacy component. Such a program is a nest of abuse and

corruption. Hazing or the use of violence in ROTC has become

a norm in order to "test the courage, fortitude and

integrity" of a cadet. In fact, this hazing and corruption

is the main reason why the NSTP Law of 2001 has been enacted

and ROTC has chosen the schools. The 2001 hazing and killing

of University of Santo Tomas student Mark Welson Chua was

the particular incident that resulted in the enactment of

the NSTP Law.

At present, ROTC became as one of three components of

the National Service Training Program (NSTP), the civic

education and defense preparedness program for Filipino

college students under the NSTP Law.

Among the universities and colleges benefited of this

military program is the Florencio L Vargas College in

Tuguegarao City, Cagayan. The college is offering this

program aims to provide students on military education and

training to mobilize them for national defense preparedness.

It also includes preparation of the students for service in

the Arm Forces of the Philippines in the event of an

 3

emergency and their training to become reservists and

potential commissioned officer of the AFP.

However, along its implementation, ROTC faced issues

and problems since its creation, resulting to countless that

aimed to finish the program. “Discontent over ROTC - its

content, conduct, the competence of its training staff and

the corruption that often plagued the individual units - had

been well known for years. Casual surfing of Filipino

student websites often reveals short essays or articles

about the perceived pointlessness of the program. Student

groups also occasionally took up the matter in their roster

of grievances." (ARESCOM, 2016)

Not only was its application deemed ineffective but

students also suffer from unjust offices who abuse their

powers. The span of ROTC's life has been plagued with

protests from students and parents as well who wish to

abolish this training.

The ROTC program was made optional and voluntary, and t

his led to a decline in the number of young men taking up

the program in preparation for a possible military career. 

Changes were made and now that President Duterte

promised more changes, ROTC is pushed to be mandatory to all

college students. He mentioned that he wants to strengthen

the ROTC program by making it mandatory to the college

 4

students, regardless of what their gender is. According to

him, fortifying the said program would help instill love of

country and good citizenship. Same with what our President

proposed, the groups who supports ROTC says that the program

not only aims to instill patriotism, but it also develops

personality and leadership skills that may help the cadets

to build successful civilian careers in the near future.

But as we all know, everything that has a positive

response will always have a negative one. ROTC is not the

way to make the students devoted to their country, and that

the program brought more problems than achieving the goal

that it pursues to attain. The question remains of whether

ROTC is really necessary to reach the hearts of the students

to raise their sense of patriotism to the country. To attain

effective changes, it is essential that a superior authority

take the initiative and force thoughtful action.

Imperfections to the curriculum and implementation of ROTC

cannot be denied, and the harnessing of these aspects should

also be a part of the changes that the program should pursue

before it can be fully utilized by the students.

Hence, the researchers as criminology students of

Florencio L Vargas College are very interested to conduct a

study to determine perceived effects to the criminology

 5

students of the Florencio L Vargas College on the proposed

mandatory implementation of ROTC for School Year 2019-2020.

Conceptual Framework

The study is anchored from Ernest Gellner Theory citing

a man must have a nationality as he must have a nose and two

ears; a deficiency in any of these particular is not

conceivable, but only as a result of some disaster, it is

itself a disaster of a kind.

Another theory that will support to this study is

theory of Donald Super which focused on the development of

life roles over the life span with emphasis on interfold

agreement. His vocational concept as a part of self-concept

is formed, in is driving force that establishes a career

pattern one will follow through life. Vocational

developmental task are derived from vocational stages which

provides framework for vocational behavior and attitudes.

Also, Clemens and Cook (1999) citing that the

institutional arguments rely not on aggregations of

individual action, or on patterned interaction games between

individuals, but on “institutions that structure action.

Institutions are emergent, “higher-order” factors above the

individual level, constraining or constituting the interests

and political participation of actors “without requiring

 6

repeated collective mobilization or authoritative

intervention to achieve these regularities”.

In this study, the Duterte proposed reforms occur on

the certain programs such as the reinstatement of mandatory

ROTC. But some college students already expressed their

anti-sentiments due to some abuses and incidents that are

reported before or even at the present time that it is not

mandatory. Considering that the government as an institution

with given power to provide the welfare of its

constituencies by means policies should consider the stance

of any persons or groups that will be affected by those

policies. In the first place, the institution must act in

accordance with what’s for the betterment of the people who

elected them without any authoritative intervention. The

government should consider the rallies, collective

mobilizations and oppressions made by some youth

organizations and other groups who are fighting to stop the

violence inside ROTC program. It should not just look for

the mandate of the higher officials hence; take those

oppressions as a tool to improve their policies.

The conceptual framework of the study will adopt the

Input-Process-Output model. In this model, the INPUT refers

to the profile variables of the students and their perceived

effects on the proposed mandatory ROTC.

 7

The PROCESS Box refers to the research procedures that

will be applied in this study. The researchers will make use

of survey questionnaire to determine the profile variables

of the students and their perceived effects on the proposed

mandatory ROTC.

The OUTPUT box refers to the objective of the study to

have determined the perceived effects on the proposed

mandatory ROTC.

The research paradigm of the study is illustrated

below.
 8

Input Process Output

1. Profile of the 1. Assessing the respondents in

respondents in terms of terms of the following: Determined the
the following: 1.1. Age perceived effects on
1.1. Age
1.2. Gender the proposed
1.2. Gender
1.3. Civil Status
1.3. Civil Status mandatory ROTC
1.4. Religious Affiliation 1.4. Religious Affiliation
for SY 2019-2020
1.5. Ethnicity 1.5. Ethnicity
2. Perceived effects on the 2. Assessing the Perceived
proposed mandatory effects on the propose
ROTC in terms of: mandatory ROTC in terms of
2.1. Positive Implication :
2.2. Negative Implication 2.1. Positive Implication
2.2. Negative Implication

Feedback

Figure 1. Paradigm of the Study

Statement of the Problem

The study attempts to determine the perceived effects

to the Criminology students of Florencio L Vargas College on

the proposed mandatory ROTC for School Year 2019-2020.

Specifically, it shall seek answers the following

questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of

the following:

1.1. Age

1.2. Gender
 9

1.3. Civil Status

1.4. Religious Affiliation

1.5. Ethnicity

2. What are the perceived effects to the Criminology

students on the proposed mandatory ROTC in terms of:

2.1. Positive Implication

2.2. Negative Implication

3. Is there a significant difference among the

perceived effects on the proposed mandatory ROTC of the

Criminology students by year level in terms of the above

dimensions?

4. Is there a significant relationship between the

profile variables of the criminology students and their

perceived effects on the proposed mandatory ROTC in terms of

the above dimensions?

5. What measures can be proposed to transform the

negative implications on the proposed mandatory ROTC into

positive one?

Significance of the Study

This study will be deemed beneficial to the following:

School Administrators. The findings of this study will

provide awareness of the process of the implementation to

the students and create action that would strengthen their

 10

information about mandatory ROTC. It would further help them

asses the ideas of the students regarding the mandatory

ROTC.

College of Criminology. This study aims to foster the

values of leadership, integrity, accountability and

responsibility of the Staff and Faculty of the College of

Criminology while serving the students. This study will also

help them to determine on the evaluation of every student on

ROTC and provide them important concepts and references of

ideas that can be relayed to their subjects.

ROTC Officers. This study can be used for them as a

reading tool that can heighten their knowledge concerning

the problems of the program. As a part of the body of the

ROTC program, the officers have a huge role to the

betterment and improvement of the training.

Parents. This study will help them to provide important

concept and ideas that can be relayed to their children

about the importance of ROTC.

Criminology Students. This study will be a guide to

make the Criminology students be aware of the importance of

their responsibilities as the Reserve Force of the Armed

Forces of the Philippines. It will also provide military

training level students in order to motivate, train,

 11

organized and mobilize them for National Defense

Preparedness.

Researchers. The study involve data-gathering skills

and cultivated productive thinking and also help them gain

more information and deeper understanding on what is an

essential environment for better learning that may aid them

in the near future.

Future researchers. The study will benefit them in a

way that they will be properly guided in the full coverage

of the references. Study will also serve as a basis for

further study in future researches.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study will focus on the perceived effects to the

Criminology students of Florencio L Vargas College on the

proposed mandatory ROTC for School Year 2019-2020.

Respondents of the study will be all Criminology students by

all year level of Florencio L Vargas College - Tuguegarao

City Campus. This study will make use of the descriptive-

correlational research design. Data will be collected with

the use of survey questionnaire.

 12

Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined operationally according

to their use to ensure clarity of the study.

Criminology Students. This refers to the students who

are currently enrolled BS Criminology at the Florencio L

Vargas College for SY 2019-2020.

Mandatory. It is an obligation under the law to abide

by the citizen or state holding the order.

Negative Implications. These refer to the ill effects

of the proposed mandatory ROTC to the students.

Perceived Effects. These could be the negative and

positive implications of the respondents on the proposed

mandatory ROTC.

Positive Implications. These refer to the good effects

of the proposed mandatory ROTC to the students.

Reserve Officer Training Corps. It refers to a program

that consists of military instruction through training,

interviews, and physical training located on many campuses

across the country.

Reserve Force. It a military organization made up of

citizens of a country that combines a military role or

career with a civilian career. These are not usually kept

under the arms and their main role is available to fight if

 13

a country mobilizes for the entire war or to defend against

the attack.