Forced and Oppressive: Mandatory Military Service

By Billie Mercado

TW: death, abuse

On March 18, 2001, University of Santo Tomas student Mark Welson Chua’s body was found decaying in the Pasig River. To present day, his death is widely attributed to his bold exposés of the malpractices that occurred in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program of his university.

These malpractices were mainly corruption, bribery, and extortion. For instance, in addition to the P300 ROTC fee, student cadets were asked to pay P250 for a seemingly nonexistent army patches fee, as well as a P20 registration fee come second semester. Chua even went as far as to uncover the wrongdoings of the university’s Department of Military Science and Tactics, whose officials allegedly accepted a P1,500 payment semesterly from students who wished to be exempted from the ROTC course.

By 2002, mandatory ROTC all over the country was abolished in light of Chua’s demise. Yet, the Dutertes, both father and daughter, have made it a point to prioritize bringing it back.

The Dutertes are notorious for such “iron-fist” ideologies, including believing that requiring young Filipinos to undergo mandatory military training and service would help ingrain discipline and patriotism in their minds. Throughout his presidency, President Rodrigo Duterte had time and time again endorsed the revival of ROTC. In fact, this was part of his list of priority bills since he ascended to power in 2016. In 2019, he deemed Senate Bill No. 2232, which systemized ROTC in Grades 11 and 12, as “urgent”, saying that this program would “invigorate their sense of nationalism and patriotism necessary in defending the State and to further promote their vital role in nation-building”.

More recently, his daughter, vice presidential aspirant Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, also expressed her intent to institutionalize a similar, yet enhanced mandatory military service program should she win in the May 9 elections. Ideally, this program would require Filipinos, both male and female, to serve once they reach the age of majority. “Hindi po ROTC lang na isang subject, isang weekend o isang buwan lang sa isang taon. Dapat lahat kapag tumuntong ng 18 years old, you will be given a subsidy, you will be asked to serve the country,” she said.

Regardless of age, making military training and service compulsory is more problematic than it is beneficial, as the Dutertes continue to imply that patriotism must come hand-in-hand with bruises and bloodshed. In order to understand the topic and surrounding discourse more clearly, Hi-Lites spoke with A1C Raphael M. Limbaga PAFR–a law student who’s also an Army Reserve officer in the Philippine Air Force, and Matt Almonte–the Assembly of Class Officers Council Vice President of Ateneo de Manila Senior High School (ASHS).

Short-Term Memory

Having young Filipinos engage in mandatory military service might just actually be useless– a waste of time and effort both with regard to the country’s present state and in the cadets’ lives in the long run.

Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio mentioned that countries such as South Korea and Israel require their people to undergo military training and service, thus, the mandatory military service that she envisions for the Philippines would be inspired by that of those countries. However, “the thing is, in South Korea, they have an imminent threat. North Korea is always there, and at any time, the DPRK [ Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] can actually attack South Korea, which is why they are preparing for that, in that event,” said A1C Raphael M. Limbaga PAFR. Meanwhile, Israel is exerting efforts to strengthen its military defense as it is waging an imperialist war on Palestine.

Matt also addressed arguments about the likeliness of other countries waging war against the Philippines. “The Philippines does not experience a similar threat or pressure of war [unlike South Korea], from China in this context, or in other words, the possibility of war with China at the moment seems less likely to happen. Disputes like these can still be addressed through international courts, legal processes, or proper talks. Hence, bringing back mandatory ROTC will certainly do more harm than good,” he said.

A1C Raphael M. Limbaga PAFR also added that due to the nature of the program being required, cadets would be more likely to undergo it simply for the sake of finishing and not in order to develop nationalism.

“If it’s something that’s enforced or forced discipline, then I don’t think students will get the essence of it because, again, if you will just join because you were being forced, then you will do it not because you wanted to learn, not because you want to be disciplined, but because you want to pass, you want to finish it,” he added, using the mandatory ROTC for college students as an example.

What then is the point of establishing a compulsory military service program for young Filipinos if the result for many is merely getting a task over with?

Entering the Danger Zone

One cannot be so sure that the program that teaches Filipinos to protect their country truly keeps its participants safe and secure.

Back in 2017, national spokesman for the League of Filipino Students (LFS) JP Rosos spoke out against Duterte’s intention to once again institutionalize ROTC, saying that the training “is far from instilling discipline. Through abuse and violence, it instills fear and blind obedience, not any sort of discipline,” and that bringing the ROTC back would be “an insult to the victims of the violent program and the students who fought against it.”

It is not uncommon to associate mandatory military service with hazing from the higher-ups. A1C Raphael M. Limbaga PAFR gave the basic definition of hazing, saying that it is “an act by which you inflict damage upon a person, [therefore] bringing physical injuries and even death.”

He also notes that “hazing can also refute or diminish the psychological and mental stability of the person. Say, for example, the military officer asked you to run naked around the campus; obviously, that’s very derogatory on [their] part, and that’s also considered hazing. Hazing is not just defined as a physical way of inflicting damage to a person, but also [through] emotional and social means.”

Even in recent years, areas in the Philippines where student military training programs are still present have reported malpractices committed towards cadets. Kabataan party-list reported in 2016 that “Reports of physical and psychological abuse in the ROTC had been far too common. Officers humiliate, brutalize, and even maim cadets in the guise of ‘training’ is nothing short of the violation of basic human rights.”

JP Rosos also recalled a grave incident at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in 2014, wherein three students passed away after going through “hazing and/or corporal punishment committed by student officials of the ROTC unit of PUP.” In light of these situations, another student cadet known as Sheena reported her experience in the training corps, saying that she and the two others with her “were ushered inside the armory of the PUP-ROTC unit by two of their superiors and were made to squat, and that their palms were hit by half-inch wooden sticks while wooden rifles were also slammed on their thighs several times inside the ROTC office in campus after they failed to attend a briefing the previous evening.”

Another notable occurrence of such abuse is the case of Willy Amihoy in the Iloilo State College of Fisheries-Dumangas campus in 2019. Amihoy, who was found dead in the bathroom of a dormitory, was discovered to be the victim of Elmer Decilao– his roommate and senior in the ISCOF-DC ROTC unit. While the AFP argued that the death was unrelated to the ROTC program and simply stemmed from an argument between the victim and suspect, Decilao’s superiority in the training corps must still be taken note of.

“When the officer or the commandant goes beyond what is necessary, then that’s wrong and that’s immoral,” said A1C Raphael M. Limbaga PAFR.

As long as any sort of abuse of power remains prevalent in mandatory military service programs, required cadets will continue to face the threat of danger on each day of their training.

The Bigger Picture

Yet, making military service mandatory is not only dangerous for those that take part in it. The cadets are not the only ones wounded; the pushing for mandatory military service continues to maim the Filipino people as a whole as it pushes for an ideology that normalizes violence and brute force. Enforcing mandatory military service for citizens when it is unneeded boosts the promotion of fascism and militarism, which only brings harm to a nation.

If, at that time of Mark Chua’s death, the ROTC program was marked by the unjust murder of a brave student who courageously brought to light the misdeeds done in darkness, mandatory military service today could easily be regarded as a power-hungry dictatorship hidden under the guise of love for country.

Matt shared his sentiments in connection with this larger issue. “It is the remark of a fascist, militarist, and dictator to assume that patriotism can mostly be achieved through risking one’s life, handling guns, and undergoing mandatory military service,” he explained.

At the very core, fascism is seen when a person or act “exalts nation and often race above the individual”– as seen in the false narrative of nationalism that advocates for mandatory military service aim to paint. Moreover, Former House of Representatives member Walden Bello wrote in an article for Rappler five ways that he believes reflects a leader or movement’s adherence to fascism, three of which are:

They show a disdain or hatred for democratic principles and procedures – The very nature of mandatory military service being compulsory deprives Filipinos of their freedom of choice.

They tolerate or promote violence – The aforementioned possibility of hazing and abuse of power within the training corps shows this. Moreso, forcing ordinary citizens to undergo the arduous training that military officers go through could result in undue and unsought injuries.

They are led by a charismatic individual who exhibits and normalizes all of the above – The Dutertes.

The dogma of militarism has been especially evident over the last 6 years, under the Duterte administration. Throughout his reign, President Duterte has given much power to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Whether it be for his infamous War on Drugs or a health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, the president constantly grants military personnel the authority to assert their dominance over ordinary civilians and defends them when they exceed boundaries.

In more ways than one, President Duterte has given military and police officers the command to “shoot-to-kill” those who seemingly defy the government’s policies.

In a 2021 speech, Duterte gave the police and military the permission to immediately kill members of the National People’s Army (NPA) on sight, adding that it would be alright to disregard human rights in the case of banishing the supposed rebels. “If there’s an encounter and you see them armed, kill, kill them, don’t mind human rights, I will be the one to go to prison, I don’t have qualms,” he said. His designated National Security Adviser and former army general Hermogenes Esperon Jr. even showed support for this order, ironically saying that allowing an officer to fire the first shot would be the right thing to do “in the name of peace, law, and order.”

Just a year earlier, the president asserted that the exact same command be executed towards those who are caught breach quarantine protocols. However, this order was only issued after 21 low-wage earning Quezon City residents held a protest to demand help and relief for their situation. The incident was misconstrued by Duterte and his policemen as an act of disobedience. “I will not hesitate. My orders are sa pulis pati military, pati mga barangay na pagka ginulo at nagkaroon ng okasyon na lumaban at ang buhay ninyo ay nalagay sa alanganin, shoot them dead… Naintindihan ninyo? Patay. Eh kaysa mag-gulo kayo diyan, eh ‘di ilibing ko na kayo,” the president said.

It is absolutely awful that President Duterte and his military cronies believe that any expression of discontent or protest from citizens is a threat to the Philippine government rather than cries for justice and betterment. Instead of recognizing inherent human rights, he views those whom he is supposed to serve as mere subjects to savagely eliminate– more concerned with keeping his power untouched than preserving the lives of his people.

Furthermore, on January 21, youth group Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK) released a statement after Duterte-Carpio proposed her mandatory military service plans. They strongly stated that any political candidate that, whether consciously or unconsciously, stands for militarism should “only be assumed as brutal, oppressive, and in service of only the ruling class,” and that Duterte-Carpio’s proposal, in particular, threatens the public that “any dissent will be met with force.”

The group also discussed in the statement the supposed reason behind Duterte-Carpio’s thought process. “She, her running mate [Ferdinard “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.], and her allies would much prefer a citizenry trained in the logic of the military: obedient and unquestioning of the oppressive status quo,” they said, suggesting that the tandem aims for a rule that thwarts the rights and democracy of each citizen.

Ergo, mandatory military service would teach and compel Filipinos to pledge their allegiance to authoritarians and politicians, not to the nation. If anyone with the Duterte or Marcos name–or with similar ideologies as those–continues to stay in power, then Filipinos run the risk of being altogether controlled by such.

Being a Filipino

Serving the country is not and will never be restricted to just serving in the army. While some may consider the military their calling, joining the institution is not a measure of one’s patriotism. So, how then can each Filipino youth sincerely and effectively express their love and service to the Philippines and Filipino people?

Matt provided some concrete, practical examples: “First of all, the fact that Filipinos pursue education for the greater good is already an act of service. From voting, teaching, service—in school or in the government—being active in speaking up regarding the government’s plans, involvement in outreach programs, and even [volunteering in] Lumad schools [and] teach[ing] [Lumad students] how to fight for their lands and rights are already [examples] of how citizens can serve their country,” he said, emphasizing the importance of exercising one’s rights and using their abilities to help others.

On the other hand, A1C Raphael M. Limbaga PAFR gave a broader response. “In your own little way… any simple act of a Filipino youth can be attributed to a bigger sense of nationalism.” reflecting the understanding that there are so many different avenues to render service, whether through exerting much effort in studies, or finding their passion and pursuing it for the greater good.

May we not limit our love for our country to but a few acts, but consciously find and make ways to serve our motherland and countrymen.

REFERENCES