SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian withdrew his proposal to institutionalize the mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps citing the huge budget needed to implement it.

The Department of National Defense estimated that requiring Grade 11 and 12 students to undergo ROTC would cost P9.2 billion.

“At this present time of trying to reduce budget deficit, trying to allocate funds to improve school system, P9.2 billion is quite a hefty sum,” Gatchalian said.

The senator also pointed to the high drop-out rate.

Data from the Department of Education showed that 51 percent, or about 1.4 million learners, who enrolled in 2010 dropped out before completing senior high school in 2022.

“This is actually a much pressing problem to be solved by DepEd,” Gatchalian appealed.

However, he filed Senate Bill 1551 calling for the reinstatement of the mandatory ROTC in college.