(Updated) Various youth groups from several universities launched indignation protests in various schools on Tuesday, March 12, following news on the death of a Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) cadet Willie Amihoy.
Amihoy, 23, a student from Iloilo State College of Fisheries, died at the hands of Elmer Decilao, his ROTC Vice Corps Commander and outgoing senior officer.
News about Amihoy’s death have yet to receive bigger media coverage from dominant media but sparked debate on social media on the ROTC program anew and launched indignation rallies the day after, especially with the mandatory ROTC for Senior High School students passed in the Lower House after its 2nd reading.
Grief and rage
Pickets were staged in University of the Philippines Manila and Diliman, and schools within the university belt also organized various symbolic and indignation protests.
Youth groups Anakbayan Metro Manila and Kabataan Party-list Metro Manila and students from Far Eastern University (FEU), University of the East (UE), National University, Pamantasang Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), and Polytechnic University of the Philippines staged a picket and candlelight protest in front of FEU Gate 4 to condemn the murder of Amihoy.
“Bakal na tubo ang ginamit ni ROTC [Vice] Corps Commander Elmer Decilao upang hampasin sa ulo si Amihoy. Natagpuan ang bangkay ni Amihoy sa isang palikuran sa loob ng pamantasan. Ang kinasapitan ni Amihoy ay hindi isolated case. Napakarami pang naitalang kaso ng hazing, harassment, at sexual abuse na nangyari buhat ng abuso ng kapangyarihan ng mga nagpapatakbo ng ROTC sa mga pamantasan. Nagpapatunay ang mga insidenteng ito na ekstensyon ng pasismo ng estado ang ROTC sa mga paaralan. Hindi disiplina at pagmamahal sa bayan ang itinuturo ng ROTC, kundi pagiging kimi at takot ng mga estudyante—na sunud-sunuran na lang sa awtoridad nang hindi kinukuwestiyon ang kanilang mga aksyon,” said Kate Gotis, Kabataan Party-list Metro Manila secretary-general.
[ROTC Corps Commander Elmer Decilao used a steel pipe to hit Amihoy’s head. His body was found in a bathroom within the university. Amihoy’s demise is not an isolated case. So many cases of hazing, harassment, and even sexual abuse were tallied due to the abuse of power of those who implement the ROTC in schools. These incidents only prove that this program serves as an extension of the state fascism in schools. This program does not teach discipline and patriotism, rather it teaches students to be meek and docile—that they should follow the authorities without questioning their actions.]
Meanwhile, Kate Santos of PLM shared her experience under the mandatory ROTC program implemented in her school.
“Sa amin, ginawa ang ROTC na mandatory. Wala kaming choice. Dito sa ROTC na ito namamayagpag ang kultura ng blind obedience at machismo. May mga kaso ng pang-aabuso ng mga commander at instructor sa kanilang kapangyarihan, kung saan ginagamit nila ang kapangyarihan nila upang mangmanipula ng mga estudyante. Ako, bilang estudyante at kadete ay saksi sa nangyayari na ito sa aming Pamantasan,” Santos manifested.
[“In our school [PLM], ROTC is mandatory. We have no choice. ROTC serves as a purveyor of the culture of blind obedience and machismo. There are also cases of the commanders’ and instructors’ abuse of power, wherein they use their authority in manipulating the students. I, as a student as well as a cadet, am a witness of these cases in our University,”]
Santos also stated that she even encountered harassment and taunts under the hands of her instructors. PLM’s ROTC program caught under fire last year when women cadets suffered verbal abuse by a commander who joked that the women cadets who do not compose themselves will be subjected to rape.
The ROTC program was first formed in 1912 with the aim to produce civilian reservists especially in times of war. The program was first made to be only mandatory for males in the college level. However, it ceased to be mandatory following the death of Mark Welson Chua, a cadet from the University of Sto. Tomas (UST) in 2001 who exposed corruption in the ROTC program in the school. After 18 years, two of four accused in Chua’s case remain at large.
Attacks on youth’s rights
In the protest, the youth groups also tackled the implications of the resurgence of ROTC program especially on the senior high schools that will be under the proposed mandatory ROTC.
“We oppose the mandatory ROTC [for SHS] because we want to promote each and every one’s rights. The [proposed] ROTC violates the Philippines’ declaration in its ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the Children who will be involved in armed conflict,” said Kate Gruenberg, a youth leader hailing from UE.
Gruenberg referred to the Philippines’ own declaration in the Conventional Rights of the Child, particularly the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
The Protocol expounded that States who choose to ratify this must do their best in securing that youth under the age of 18 must not be directly involved in hostilities and armed conflict.
At present, students in senior high school fall under the ages of 15-17 years old.
“Kaya tayo nandito, at tumitindig at lumalaban. Do we want the children to be exposed to this violence? Do we want them to be associated and conditioned with the violence of this mandatory ROTC?” Gruenberg continued.
[“That’s why we’re here and we’re standing against this. Do we want the children to be exposed to this violence? Do we want them to be associated and conditioned with the violence of this mandatory ROTC?”]
Maxinne Chavez of Anakbayan FEU ended the program by reiterating that mandatory ROTC did not emulate the ideals it mentioned due to the violence that is endemic in the program.
“We oppose the Duterte regime’s proposal of reinforcing the already abolished mandatory ROTC within schools in the Philippines. The administration has been hiding under the guise of instilling what they call ‘patriotism’ and ‘discipline’ to reinstate the mandatory ROTC, but on the contrary, it has not done anything but violence and death. ROTC instills not patriotism, but warmongering culture that promotes machismo, blind obedience, and feudal actuations. Through it, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) breeds fascists—the future machinery for tyranny and wars of aggression,” said Chavez.
