These activities are part of ROTC Week, which aimed to give a sneak peek on the life of a ROTC cadet beyond the stereotype of marching and doing drills, said Gerodias.
Themed “Invictus,” which means “unconquerable” in Latin, ROTC Week was a first in recent ROTC history, Gerodias added.
“[Invictus] is a poem, and basically, it’s a soldier’s poem. It’s about taking control of your destiny,” said Cadet Airman 1st Class Gabriel Francisco Ruaro (II BS LM).
Getting physical
Aside from outdoor activities, ROTC Week also included seminars on disaster preparedness, jungle survival and a lecture on airsoft.
Participant Jerome Albert Zapata (I BS Psy) said that initially, he thought ROTC was difficult. In fact, he said that his friends advised him to take the National Service Training Program (NSTP) instead of ROTC for sophomore year.
In ROTC Week, however, he saw that “physical activities can also be fun.” Zapata participated in the wall-climbing activity.
“My blockmates and I usually go somewhere else to participate in these activities, but now they are here in the Ateneo. So it’s okay,” Zapata said in mixed English and Filipino.
Participant Angela Nichole Villa-real (II BS Mgt) said she liked the events set for ROTC Week. “You get to experience what they do, if that is what they do,” she said.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council, United Airsoft Alliance, and Global Gutz Paintball Club assisted in the seminars and outdoor activities of ROTC Week.
Flight
Gerodias said that Invictus aimed to integrate all of ROTC’s activities. Last year, ROTC’s activities were spread over two months, he said.
Cadet Major Mauro Lorenzo Tongco II (III AB DS) said that Invictus was also a response to De La Salle University’s own ROTC Week. “We asked advice from them, because…we are not that supported here, but in La Salle, they are,” he said.
Tongco added that La Salle has a flight of 500 cadets. Ateneo’s ROTC, meanwhile, has 89 cadets. “[ROTC Week also aims] to boost our numbers for next year,” he said.
A taste of the ROTC
ROTC Week showed the Ateneo community the lighter side of being a cadet. Still, Tongco said, there is more to ROTC than outdoor activities.
“There are days na you know, we are just marching and sometimes that’s hard, but…outside of the special training every Saturday morning at 6 am or 5 am, everyone who is there, they want to be there kaya nagiging masaya siya (so it becomes enjoyable),” Tongco said.
Aside from marching and doing drills, cadets also learn skills that can be used in everyday life, such as first aid training, physical training, marksmanship, signaling, and squad tactics.
While ROTC Week may not have encapsulated the full experience of being a cadet, Gerodias hoped that the community was made aware of cadets’ experiences in the ROTC.
Ruaro said, “At the very least, non-ROTC [Ateneans] can have a taste of what we go through.”
