DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Thursday supported President Rodrigo Duterte’s suggestion to mobilize and arm graduates of the Reserve Officers Training Course, saying this was what they have envisioned for the country.
“That is very possible,” Lorenzana said, replying to a question if it was possible to arm ROTC graduates if the country’s problem with terrorism worsened.
“Other countries like Switzerland and Israel do it,” he added. “They have a small standing armed force backed by a huge reserve force that continually train with the active force.”
“What we envision in our country is the same.”
Lorenzana said there was nothing new in Duterte’s announcement.
Lorenzana said they were looking at the possibility of each region having a reserve unit, consisting of retired military officers and ROTC graduates with a core group of active duty officers and enlisted personnel.
“Their cadres [officers and enlisted personnel] will be active military. They will have their Regional HQ with armories where they will keep their individual firearms. They can use these firearms during training,” he said.
And should these formations be used in combat, peacekeeping and disaster response missions “will have official orders calling them for limited active duty, like we did with the Lanao del Norte Reserve Battalion during the Marawi Siege,” Lorenzana said.
Duterte also announced the Philippines would get 5,000 firearms from an unidentified “friendly country” as he vowed to build a strong police and military before he leaves office. PNA