Thread by @kkumjh

Why is ROTC no longer mandatory in the Philippines?

Mark Chua was an engineering student and an ROTC cadet of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). In 2000, together with Romulo Yumul, they filed a complaint to the Department of National Defense exposing the—

corruption within the UST-ROTC, supported by other cadets. They went to the Varsitarian office (UST student publication) to submit to them a copy of their complaint. Chua’s exposé was published in the Varsitarian’s Feb. 21, 2001 issue titled “Struggle Against the System”.

According to them, there was a widespread of corruption, extortion, and hazing within the ROTC department. After a series of investigations, UST-ROTC Commandant Major Demy Tejares, along with his staff, were removed. He was formally replaced by Captain Rodolfo Batang.

Mar. 15, 2001 (4 p.m.): Mark's father, Welson Chua, called him to ask about the recordable compact discs he asked him to buy at Raon St. and also asked him what time will he come home. Mark said he'll be home by 8 p.m.

Mar. 15, 2001 (10 p.m.): Welson Chua and his brother eat —

at Hossein’s Kebab in Makati Avenue. Chua’s brother texts Mark to follow them at the restaurant and gives directions. Mark texts back, “I'm on my way dad.”

Mar. 16, 2001 (1:30 a.m.): Chua and his brother started looking for Mark. They went to UST to check but he was not there.

They went home to call Mark's friends about his whereabouts.

Mar. 16, 2001 (4 a.m.): Welson's phone rings. It was Mark's number. On the other line, an adult says in Tagalog, “Nasa amin na ang anak mo, huwag kang maingay sa mga pulis, bibigyan kita hanggang bukas (at) maghanda —

ka ng P3 M kung gusto mong makita pa nang buhay ang anak mo.” Another call came asking for the money, but Welson refuses to give it. The caller replies, “No money, no son.” Welson did not hear from them again.

March 18, 2001: The Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) Metro section —

reports that the decomposing male body wrapped in a red carpet was found floating at the Pasig River near Jones Bridge at the back of the Central Post Office Building. Its head was reportedly wrapped with a silver packaging tape, hands tied with shoestring, and legs bound by a —

packaging tape. Police described it as a man in his 40s due to its advanced stage of decomposition.

March 20, 2001: Hours after, the decomposing body is confirmed to be Mark’s body by his mom and stepfather, through his belongings and a dog tag with the word 'Chua' on it.

Police investigators ascertain that Mark did not die in the hands of a kidnap-for-ransom-gang. An AFP intelligence report states that Mark’s killers were the ones who abducted him and that his supposed kidnappers meant to kill him, but made it appear that they abducted him for —

ransom. Former president Arroyo ordered a speedy investigation on the murder.

Apr. 25, 2001: Two witnesses surface, claiming that they saw four men dumped Mark's body in the Pasig River. In a sworn statement, Rico Hernandez Nicolan and Jeffrey Lucena identify Genesis and —

Jeffrey Binagatan as the suspects. The NBI and the Western Police District then arrested the Binagatan brothers.

Oct. 5, 2001: NBI identifies 4 new suspects on Chua’s murder. They are Michael Von Rainard Manangbao, Eduardo Tabrilla, Paul Joseph Tan, and Patrick Christopher Cruz.

All were cadet officers of the Philippine Army’s reserve command assigned to UST’s ROTC office at the time Chua was killed.

Nov. 8, 2001: A new witness surfaces in DOJ. The witness, a 20-year-old Fine Arts student and a UST ROTC officer from Dec. 2000 to March 2001, declares —

in an affidavit before state prosecutor Aristotle M. Reyes that some officials and officers of the UST-ROTC could be behind Mark’s death. He claims that he saw Chua at the DMST office on the night Chua disappeared. He saw a man with his hands and feet tied and his head wrapped —

with packaging tape in the DMST office, which was the same manner Chua was fished out of the Pasig River.

2004: Arnulfo Aparri, one of the accused, was sentenced to death by lethal injection and ordered to pay the family P50,000 in indemnity. When the death penalty was —

abolished in 2006, it was changed to life imprisonment without parole. Eduardo Tabrilla, another accused, pleaded guilty to homicide in 2006. Two others, Paul Tan and Michael Rainard Manangbao, remain at large until now. Mark’s death brought clamor for the abolition of —

mandatory ROTC in 2002, resulting in the passage of the NSTP law the same year.

UST awarded Mark the San Lorenzo Ruiz Medal for “showing exceptional and exemplary courage in standing up for the truth and Thomasian ideals".

If you want to read the story in detail, here are my sources:
varsitarian.net/news/20090412/…
varsitarian.net/special-report…

Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read this thread. I made this bc a lot of people were asking to bring back mandatory ROTC so I felt like they should know why it was abolished in the first place. Pero if ibabalik man talaga, sana ayusin nila yung sistema.

Gaya nga ng title sa expose ni Mark Chua, there is 'struggle against the system'. Sana ayusin muna natin para hindi na maulit yung nakaraan at hindi na matakot yung mga estudyante.

Iloilo State College (2019)
cnnphilippines.com/news/2019/3/12…
Polytechnic University of the Philippines (2014)
news.abs-cbn.com/nation/metro-m…
De La Salle University (2014)
thelasallian.com/2014/07/06/haz…

https://twitter.com/eicvsfascism/status/1524415625392975873?s=20&t=EGPKheJXZFViHFdX6GLHww