As Israel-Hamas war rages, Gatchalian wants ROTC bill certified as urgent

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 18) — Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday called on Malacañang to certify the mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) bill as urgent to strengthen the country's military reserve force.

His statement came after Israel called thousands of its army reservists to fight back against the Palestine militant group Hamas.

According to Gatchalian, the Philippines only has 10,000 army reservists compared to Israel's more than 300,000.

«Nasusundan ko rin kung anong nangyari doon sa Israel and Gaza,» he said. «All of those [Israeli] reservists dumaan sa two-year mandatory conscription. Ang proposal sa ROTC is only one year tapos once a week, hindi siya full-time.»

[Translation: I've seen what happened in Israel and Gaza. All of those Israeli reservists went through the two-year mandatory conscription. The ROTC proposal is only once a week in one year, it's not full-time.]

Gatchalian added that he wanted the bill certified as urgent not only for defense purposes but also for climate change and calamity response.

Becoming an army reservist in the country at present is voluntary, but under the ROTC bill, college students who will undergo mandatory conscription will automatically be called a reservist.

Gatchalian also said he's planning to file a bill for working professionals in the private sector to be paid by either the government or companies during the days they will miss work due to military training.

The ROTC bill is one of the priority measures of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s administration. During his first State of the Nation Address, Marcos asked lawmakers to pass the bill in both public and private senior high schools.

A Social Weather Stations survey released in May showed almost half of adult Filipinos think ROTC should be optional.

With reports from CNN Philippines correspondent Eimor Santos.