SENATOR Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday stressed the need to prioritize programs and measures that will address learning losses instead of focusing attention on the proposed Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

“Sa panahon ng krisis pang-ekonomiya at edukasyon, tingin natin mas mahalagang pagtuunan ng pansin ang pagtugon sa learning losses na dala ng pandemya,” Hontiveros said.

“Hindi tayo tutol sa pagkakaroon ng ROTC, dahil hanggang sa ngayon ay may ROTC naman sa ilalim ng NSTP, pero ang gawin itong mandatory limits the choices of our students to express their love of country. Nakacapture ba ng survey ang sentiment ng kabataan mismo na ipapa-mandatory ROTC, o ito ay yung general population lamang?” she added.

Hontiveros was reacting to the survey conducted by Pulse Asia Survey showing that almost eight out of 10 Filipinos support mandatory ROTC in college.

“Sa panahon ngayon, higit na kailangan ang mas malawak na programa para sa paglilingkod sa bayan hindi lamang usaping military, law enforcement at disaster response,” the senator stressed.

Still, Hontiveros vowed to study the ROTC measure to ensure that there are enough safeguards against abuse.

“Gaya ng ibang mahahalagang batas, patuloy nating bubusisiin ang panukalang pagbabalik ng ROTC, paglalatag ng mga isyu kaugnay sa implementasyon nito at pagsisigurado na may sapat na safeguards at protection ang mga kabataang dadaan sa programa kontra abuso,” she said.