SENATOR Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa stressed that it is high time for the Philippines to strengthen its military reserve force amid the increasing tension in the West Philippine Sea by passing the bill on mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.

“Kailangan talaga nating handa palagi. Hindi naman pupwedeng hindi tayo handa. Kasi pagdating dito sa national security, national territory, ultimately, you need a credible defense. So, we cannot have credible defense if we don’t have enough reserves. We cannot produce enough reserves if we don’t have the ROTC program,” Dela Rosa said.

Dela Rosa, an alumnus of the Philippine Military Academy, emphasized that without the mandatory ROTC program, the Philippine defense posture will be very weak and vulnerable.