Sara Duterte Wants 18-Year-Olds to Undergo Mandatory Military Service

Vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte-Carpio has let it be known that, if elected for the post, she will be pushing for mandatory military service for all 18-year-olds in the Philippines.

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Photo from Reuters

Gagamitin ko ang aking opisina – Office of the Vice President – para kausapin ang ating Congress and the Senate of the Philippines to make military service for all 18 years old, male and female, mandatory in our country,” the Davao City mayor Sara Duterte said on Wednesday during the UniTeam Alliance’s “virtual caravan” with Bongbong Marcos Jr. and other senatorial candidates.

(I will use my office – Office of the Vice President – to talk to our Congress and the Senate of the Philippines to make military service for all 18 years old, male and female, mandatory in our country)

According to Duterte, the initiative will be unlike the country’s current military training program, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), where students can voluntarily participate for only a brief period of time.

“You will be given a subsidy, you will be asked to serve the country, doon sa ating (there in our) Armed Forces of the Philippines,” she said of her proposal. Her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, had previously attempted to make ROTC mandatory for all college students early in his presidency, but failed to follow through.

The vice presidential aspirant likened the military service plan to those carried out in South Korea and Israel, where citizens are required to perform military service for more than a year.

Art Macky Arquilla

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