DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio will push for the imposition of mandatory military service for all Filipinos upon reaching the age of 18.

“Gagamitin ko ang aking opisina, Office of the Vice President, para kausapin ang ating Congress and the Senate of the Philippines to make military service for all 18 years old, male and female, mandatory in our country,” Duterte-Carpio said.

She said that the training will be more comprehensive than what is given under the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps or ROTC.

“Dapat lahat kapag tungtong mo ng 18 years old, you will be given a subsidy, you will be asked to serve our country doon sa ating Armed Forces of the Philippines,” the mayor noted.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana backed Duterte-Carpio’s plan.

“We in the DND support the mandatory military service of 18-year-old Filipinos. There are several advantages: First, the military will have a ready and steady trained pool of reservists to defend the country and do HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief) work; second, the training and discipline that they will acquire will make them better citizens; third, service to the country will be inculcated in them,” Lorenzana said in a statement.

He admitted, however, that funds and resources will be a problem.

“Training camps would need to be established all over the land, and manpower and funds must be allocated to accommodate the millions who will reach the age of 18 every year. Second are the anticipated objections of those who are not inclined to serve in the military. Third, we are not on a war footing and there will be little need of a general mobilization,” he explained.

The DND chief stressed that making ROTC mandatory again in universities and colleges would be a better alternative.

“We are already starting to implement this in the State Universities and Colleges. This program, which targets the (Grade 11 to 12) levels, will produce a huge number of youths who will form part of our reservists,” he said.

“We feel that the product of the ROTC program is more than sufficient to meet our requirements for warm bodies in case of conflict and in times of calamities and disasters.”