With the approval of the restoration of the mandatory Reserved Officers Training Course in Grades 11 and 12 by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, the 11th Regional Committee Defense Group reiterated its request for the approval of its request to use part of the the land area within the University of the Philippines Mindanao, Mintal as training venue for incoming cadet officers.
“Noong naging pagmamay-ari na ng UP ang area after Presidential Proclamation in 1997, naging status quo na yung pag stay namin sa area. With the proposed proclamation of President Duterte that the ROTC will be compulsory, meron kaming apprehension kung wala na yun na area for training cadets, by 2018, wala nang area for training purposes,” said Lt. Col. Noli Kanashiro, Operations Officer of the 11th RCDG.
According to him, they requested for the usage of 20 hectare portion of the 204-hectare land in UP Min through the Barangay Council of Mintal.
“Sumulat kami sa city council through the Barangay Mintal, pinapaboran naman nila for barangay resolution na ganun ang 20 hectares for military reservation, hopefully the city council will look into that, para sa ROTC cadets,” he said on Wednesday.
Lt. Col. Kanashiro added that this area will be essential because there is no other area for within the city, aside from the Eastern Mindanao Command in Panacan, especially that in 2018, they are expecting an influx of ROTC cadets from 600 different high schools in Davao and that the number of reservists is growing.
“Aside from the Eastmincon in Panacan, wala nang ibang area for reservists sa Davao city. Pumupunta pa kami sa Mawab, napakalayo, almost 100km from here, it’s really not accessible.”
As to the issue of militarization in the campus protested by UP Mindanao Student Leaders, Kanashiro said that they are simply going to use the land as training grounds for the reserve officers and cadets.
“Sana maintindihan nila yung request namin ngayon, dahil sa influx ng ROTC cadets, para maging developed din ang army into a premier training institution dito sa Davao Region. That will be a training institution. We are developing army officers, reservists, hindi naman combat kami combat units. We are mostly dedicated to train our citizens into being disciplined. Just like UP, training professionals, we are training professional army officers and cadets to be disciplined.”
Currently, the item was referred to the committee on city-owned real properties under Councilor Bonifacio Militar.
