A total of 270 cadets of the Philippine Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program were awarded scholarship grants by Senate Majority Leader Francis ‘Tol’ Tolentino and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The awarding of the scholarships worth P50,000 for each cadet was held at the closing ceremony of the national championships of the Philippine ROTC Games held this weekend at the Cavite State University (CVSU) campus in Indang, Cavite.
“The scholarships were given as an incentive for the outstanding performance of the 270 cadet-athletes from the three major services of the armed forces – army, navy, and air force – of different colleges and universities across the country,” according Tolentino.
The senator clarified that the 270 recipients include medalists from the regional qualifiers and national championships this year, and from the initial staging of the PH ROTC Games last year.
“This award is meant to encourage them to continue to pursue excellence, both in their chosen sports, as well as their academics,” added the senator, the principal proponent of the annual sports competition.
“This incentive also shows how the ROTC program is evolving with the times, and opening more windows of opportunities for our youth,” Tolentino further noted.
Brigadier General Jose Doroteo Jalandoni from the AFP’s Reservist and Retiree Affairs service further explained the parameters for choosing the scholars.
“To qualify, you have to be a medalist in any of the three regional qualifiers for Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Second, you intend to pursue ROTC and finish the advanced program,” said Jalandoni in a press conference with Tolentino and representatives of the national executive committee of the ROTC Games.
The senator noted that aside from providing a pathway for the youth to join the military service, whether as an active member or reservist, the ROTC has become a legitimate training ground for developing athletes for the national pool through the ROTC Games.
In fact, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), according to National Sports Association (NSA) Affairs Head Anna Ruiz, now considers the ROTC Games as a third venue for scouting and recruiting potential athletes, aside from Palarong Pambansang and the Filipino Youth Games (Batang Pinoy).
“In this year’s ROTC Games, we saw prospective athletes in target shooting, as well as boxing and kickboxing,” Ruiz shared during the press conference.
A total of 1,115 cadet-athletes from 151 universities joined this year’s national championships, which featured 14 different sports, according to Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Executive Director Atty. Cinderella Jaro.
“The increasing participation of students and universities in the games is a reflection of growing support for the ROTC program nationwide,” Jaro stressed.
The national championships was opened by the Miss ROTC national finals, whose winners were crowned in Tagaytay City last August 17.
The PH ROTC Games is a joint initiative of Senator Tolentino, CHED, PSC, and the AFP. CVSU, headed by its president, Dr. Hernando Robles, served as this year’s host for the Luzon leg and the national championships.