The Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS) was created through Republic Act 9163 or the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001 as a result of the nationwide protest to abolish the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) in 2001. One of its students at UP, who joined the recent Cordillera Day celebrations in Abra, says CWTS has actually “helped” in exposing their class to the realities of society and has prompted them to ask questions on what they can do to help the less fortunate.
BY ZOFIA LEAL
Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 12, April 27-May 3, 2008
The Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS) was created through Republic Act 9163 or the National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001 as a result of the nationwide protest to abolish the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) in 2001.
The death of Mark Welson Chua, an ROTC cadet officer at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), in 2001 triggered widespread demands for the abolition of the ROTC. Chua was killed by his officers after he exposed widespread corruption in his university’s ROTC program.
The CWTS program includes building homes, teaching poor children and community immersion.
Last April 23-24, around 50 students from the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City under the CWTS joined the celebration of the Cordillera Day 2008 in Baay-Licuan, Abra.
Marianne Liwanag, a sophomore Interior Design major, explained that it was through the initiative of their CWTS professor Roselle Pineda that they were able to join the Cordillera Day celebration.
Liwanag said that her expectation for the Cordillera Day was “minimal” and that she was more keenly interested on learning how to live with the host community. She also added that they were overwhelmed by the community’s warm welcome.
“Para sa akin yung pinaka-striking (experience) ay y’ung pagkausap ko sa natives, y’ung pagkakaalam ko sa background ng struggle nila” (For me, the most striking [experience] is my conversation with the natives, that I was able to know the background of their struggle), Liwanag said.
According to Liwanag, the Cordillera Day 2008 was able to show to her and her classmates about the effects of large-scale mining from a historical perspective.
Liwanag added that the CWTS has helped in exposing their class to the realities of society and has prompted them to ask questions on what they can do to help the less fortunate. (Bulatlat.com)
