27 December 2022
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) partnered with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and Senator Francis Tolentino to launch the first ever Philippine Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Games which will be a platform for ROTC cadets to compete in an olympic-level and NSA-sanctioned sporting events.
The partnership between the government agencies was formalized through the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) in Camp Aguinaldo between CHED Chairman Popoy De Vera, Department of National Defense (DND) Officer-in-Charge and Senior Undersecretary Jose Faustino, Jr. and PSC Chairman Jose Emmanuel Eala. Also present were AFP chief Lieutenant General Bartolome Vicente Bacarro and Sen. Francis Tolentino.
The funding for the ROTC Games was done through a budget realignment of Tolentino in the 2023 GAA.
Tolentino, who is a Brigadier General (reserve) in the Philippine Army said that “the launching of the 2023 Philippine ROTC Games signals the beginning of the quest for young Filipino athletes who will not only excel in sports but more importantly, showcase to the world that the Filipino has a heart of a champion.”
“Our goal is to promote camaraderie, teamwork and sportsmanship, which are important in building bodily strength and character,” he added.
The ROTC Games will promote the development of sports programs, physical education, foster self-discipline, teamwork, excellence, and to train young athletes for international competitions, and realize a common objective of developing grassroots sports programs for the youth.
The ROTC Games is also a good initiative for the impending approval to revive the mandatory ROTC in higher education with the recent passage of HB 6687 or the National Citizen Service Training (NCST) Bill in the House of Representatives.
“ROTC is not just mobilizing young Filipinos during times of peace and war, but it also needs to produce physically fit and healthy individuals. CHED under my watch will ensure the fulfillment of our mandate, making sports as one of our priority programs to promote total human development geared towards good citizenry and the honing of world-class Filipinos,” De Vera said.
The target timeline for the first year of implementation of the Philippine ROTC Games shall be in February 2023 – Commencement of recruitment/sports clinics; July 2023 – Regional ROTC Games and; August/September 2023 – National ROTC Games.
The 2023 Philippine ROTC Games shall be composed of Athletics, Swimming, Boxing, Arnis, Weightlifting, Kickboxing, E-sports, Basketball, Volleyball, Target shooting, and Demonstration Sports.
(SIGNED)
J. PROSPERO E. DE VERA III, DPA
Chairman
Commission on Higher Education