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"With their discipline and civic-consciousness, the ROTC cadets can provide a group of idealistic young men who are willing to put their lives on the line not only in times of war but also in peace in the service of the people,"

saver111

Oct 4 2006, 06:53 PM

Lawyer Jose Ricafrente Jr., PDSP spokesman, also proposed the inclusion of a disaster management course in the current ROTC curriculum to prepare cadets to respond to natural and man-made calamities.

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Arroyo: Wipe out rebels in 3 years


By Michael Lim Ubac
Inquirer

Posted date: August 25, 2007


TAGBILARAN CITY--President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered state security forces Friday to end "all armed rebellion" by communist insurgents, Moro secessionist rebels and terrorists before her term ends in 2010.
"I have specified a timeline--three years--to end armed rebellion in the Philippines," said Arroyo, referring to the "three fronts" that her administration was currently engaged in.

The commander in chief branded the "enemies" of the state as "barbarians" who "will try to erase our democratic way of life, but they will not succeed."

Addressing a peace summit for Central Visayas, President Arroyo ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to "evolve a strategy of rapid conclusion to address armed rebellion, with the National Security Council providing policy direction on communist insurgency, Muslim secessionism and sheer terrorism."

"They will try to scuttle progress, not by rewriting economic blueprint, for it is an exercise too complex for barbarians, but through acts of terror and a war of attrition, yet to no avail," Arroyo said.

She called for a review of the reservist and reserve force development program of the AFP, Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) "and other similar programs consistent with the doctrine of a citizen's army enshrined in the Constitution."

Remember Dagohoy

Describing Boholonos as descendants of Francisco Dagohoy, who led the longest revolt in the country during the Spanish era, the President enjoined local officials here in declaring "our resolve to defeat terror and rout the enemies of democracy."

"Your ancestors did not take savagery sitting down. Instead they fought back. We, too, will fight back and repel the incursions of insurgency and terrorism.

"We will not stop until bandits find no more nook to hide in the land they have blighted, and no sanctuary to seek from people they have terrorized and used as shields," she said.

Arroyo said her two-pronged approach in Basilan and Sulu--a full military offensive coupled with humanitarian assistance to displaced families--would be the template for her overarching goal of ending all rebellions.

"But we do not, and we will never, employ the bloody means terror employs to compel forced obedience of their obsolete ideas and outrageous demands. We, on the other hand, will employ all means available in the arsenal of democracy to crush those who wish to transplant the roots of radicalism in our land," she said.

Arroyo arrived here late Thursday from Zamboanga City and Basilan where she visited the troops pursuing Abu Sayyaf rebels blamed for the deadly attacks on government forces in Basilan and Sulu.

After inaugurating the P8.5-million Loboc Children's Choir Theater and the P2.5- million access road to the theater in the nearby town of Loboc, she went straight here Friday to address the closing ceremonies of the two-day Local Peace and Security Assembly (LPSA).

LPSA participants presented to Arroyo an action plan to address the insurgency which included an offer of amnesty to communist rebels and "their legal or aboveground organizations," ceasefire, support of local peace talks, review and re-establishment of the ROTC, and adoption of anti-poverty policies.





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