Why Military Service isn’t an Obligation?

Have you heard the news of Vice Presidential Aspirant Sara Duterte’s plan on
mandating military service for the youth? Also, the Armed Forces of the Philippines
(AFP) supports Sara Duterte that the implementation of mandatory military service for
Filipinos will help instill patriotism among citizens and help them contribute to
nation-building efforts. Mandatory military service is a strategy adopted by governments
to build a big and powerful military that is ready to be deployed in times of war or when
the need to protect the sovereignty of the state arises. I firmly believe that mandating
military service is not the only way to instill “patriotism” and “discipline” in the Filipino
youth. Military service should not be mandatory because it violates human rights and is
used as a platform to abuse power; instead of making this policy, the government must
focus more on the challenges that we are facing right now.
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“It violates basic civil and political rights such as the right to freedom of thought,
beliefs, and conscience, especially if you are forced to provide service or fight in unjust
wars or repressive endeavors of the State,” the statement of Karapatan Secretary
General Cristina Palabay to the proposal of Vice Presidential Aspirant Sara Duterte.
The first argument implies that forcing someone to do something they don't want to do is
a violation of their fundamental right to follow their aspirations. Mandatory military
service violates an individual's right to choose what they want to do with their life.

Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides the
right to freedom of mind, conscience, and religion or belief, which underpins the right to
conscientious objection to military service. While the Covenant does not explicitly refer
to a right to conscientious objection, in its general comment No. 22 (1993) the Human
Rights Committee stated that such a right could be derived from article 18, since the
obligation to use lethal force might seriously conflict with the freedom of conscience and
the right to manifest one’s religion or belief. The Human Rights Council, and previously
the Commission on Human Rights, have also recognized the right of everyone to have a
conscientious objection to military service as a legitimate exercise of the right to
freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, as laid down in the article 18 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 18 of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights.

The next argument implies that Military services or training are used as a
platform of abuse of power. Mark Welson Chua was a Reserve Officers' Training Corps
(ROTC) cadet who exposed anomalies in the ROTC unit of UST to the Varsitarian in
2001. His body, dead and decomposing, was fished out of the Pasig River on March 18,
2001. His death brought clamor for the abolition of the mandatory ROTC, resulting in
the passage of the National Service Training Program (NSTP) law that offers other
service options to students that do not involve military training. Chua exposed the
Department of Military Science and Tactics of bribery, saying that students who want to
be exempt from the course would pay some officials a standard price of P1,500 per
semester. Cadets would also pay P10 each time they take preliminary and final exams
and buy attendance cards on the first day of training Sunday, with prices ranging from
P10 to P20. ROTC maybe not be the same as military service but they are related. With
that being said and with the case of Mark Chua, ROTC provides military training in
students while the military service is for all the civilians, it is obvious that there is a
bigger chance of hazing, corruption, and bribery in this program. The core of ROTC is
militarism. It develops vulnerable young minds submissive to authorities. It discourages
being critical which is the complete opposite of patriotism which shall be fueled by
young people's love for their fellow citizens, community, and country.

Another abuse of power is hazing where any act that results in physical or
psychological suffering, harm, or injury inflicted on a recruit, member, or applicant, as
part of an initiation rite or practice made as a prerequisite for admission or a
requirement for continuing membership in a fraternity, sorority, or organization. In one
military school, Philippine Military Academy (PMA) has confirmed that cadet Darwin
Dormitorio died of injuries resulting from hazing rites, supposedly at the hands of three
upperclassmen. PMA physician Florence Apple Apostol indicated that the initial cause
of death of the 20-year-old cadet, from Cagayan de Oro City, was cardiac arrest
secondary to internal hemorrhage. The police official said they are preparing criminal
charges for violation of the anti-hazing law against the suspects. The PMA is also
preparing administrative charges against the cadets involved. Hazing is prohibited
under Republic Act No. 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Law. It has been amended by Republic
Act No. 11053 in 2018 and is now known as the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018.

Patriotism and discipline can never be taught. Mandating military service to youth
is not an answer to the issue of discipline. Patriotism and discipline in democratic
governments do not imply submission, it denotes commitment. Patriotism and discipline
are freely given to the state by the people. They cannot be petulant demands from the
state to obey the mandates of leaders who are unable to do what they preach. Love of
country cannot be achieved by “discipline” and “obedience” but by setting a proper
example by elders, including and especially those in government. It doesn’t instill the
patriotism and the nationalism that the state wanted.--- there are other ways to instill
patriotism. The only way to teach the young generation about nationalism and genuine
service to the nation and nation-building is better access to quality education and more
options to follow careers in healthcare services, education, engineering, and sciences.
 In conclusion, military service should remain voluntary and not an obligation.
Harnessing citizens’ civic duty to their country and the people is best promoted not
through such draconian measures but the promotion of human and people’s rights
through education and various activities and by upholding governance that addresses
the roots of poverty and injustice enjoins and inspires the defense of our sovereignty
and territorial integrity, and caters to the well-being and welfare of the people.
Mandating military service is not a way to defend the country's national institutions and
sovereignty. They are life experiences that endear one to a self-sacrificing mindset. That
mindset can only come about if Filipinos see there is something worth sacrificing. That
something is the freedom and capability to develop one’s capabilities to the fullest in an
open playing field.

References:
1. https://www.rappler.com/nation/groups-reactions-sara-duterte-proposal-ma
ndatory-military-service-filipino-youth/
2. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1543106/karapatan-saras-plan-to-bring-back-
military-conscription-a-possible-rights-violation
3. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/RuleOfLaw/Pages/ConscientiousObjectio
n.aspx
4. https://www.quora.com/Does-ROTC-count-as-military-service
5. https://lawphil.net/statutes/comacts/ca_1_1935.html
6. https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/09/21/1953627/pma-cadet-victim-
hazing-pn
7. https://www.rappler.com/nation/lorenzana-reaction-sara-duterte-proposal-
mandatory-military-service/