SENATOR Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa is hopeful that President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. will tackle in his third State of the Nation Address or SONA on Monday the reimposition of the Mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps in tertiary level.

“Sana maulit muli pagbanggit niya like previous years, in his first SONA niya na isinama niya sa priority legislative agenda yung reimposition of mandatory ROTC in the light of the recent developments in the West Philippine Sea,” Dela Rosa said in an interview with the Senate media.

The senator explained that there’s a need to have a sizable reserves in terms of emergency.

“I’m not expecting, only hoping. Sana masama para maengganyo ang mga kasamahan ko sa majority bloc na tumulong maipasa bill na ito,” Dela Rosa added.

The bill, which already reached the Senate plenary, shall only include students from higher educational and technical-vocational institutions who will be required to undergo basic military and police training to motivate, train, organize, and use them for national defense preparedness or civil-military operations, and law enforcement.

Senate Bill No. 2034, which seeks to make ROTC mandatory for tertiary students enrolled in higher learning and vocational institutions, remains pending on second reading as of June 24.