SENATOR Francis “Chiz” Escudero asked the proponents of the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps or ROTC program to present a scientific study to show that the National Service Training Program is a total failure.

Escudero said a formal study based on facts is necessary to convince the public that there is a need to scrap the NSTP, which was created under Republic Act 9613, and make ROTC a mandatory requirement for all students.

Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa, the bill’s sponsor, said the Commission on Higher Education has determined that the NSTP Law has failed, a conclusion that he strongly agrees with.

Escudero said that if the bill is a failure, it should be backed up by formal studies.

“Can the gentleman furnish me a copy of a study, not merely the position of the Chair but a study that says NSTP actually failed,” Escudero, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education.

In defending Senate Bill 2034, Dela Rosa told his colleagues that the NSTP law failed because it is not producing the needed reserved force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and it fails to achieve its envisioned goal, which is to organize a national reserve corps that can also be mobilized in times of disaster and calamities.

“I’m asking for a study with respect to number one, the success or if at all, the failure of the ROTC before the NSTP law; and number two, a study, a review, or findings based on evidence and facts that the NSTP was indeed a failure,” Escudero said.

“I have yet to see a study based on facts and evidence that indeed it is a failure, and indeed ROTC is better because you have to remember that ROTC is still a part of the NSTP at present,” he added.