China’s ever-worsening aggression in the South China Sea has prompted Philippine defense and military officials to come up with several proposals to help the country project a credible defensive stance in the region.

Last week, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff, General Romeo Brawner Jr., raised the possibility of enticing licensed gun owners, especially those with access to long firearms, to train as reservist officers.

As with most Filipino boomers who were made to undergo Citizens’ Army Training in high school and mandatory enlistment in the Reserve Officers Training Corps in college, this Contrarian can see the nuanced position taken by Brawner.

Along the lines of Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel last 7 October, it has become apparent that having trained citizen soldiers will only make a difference if they have access to weaponry when they are not serving.

In villages close to Gaza and other hotspots in Israel like the West Bank, more and more Israelis are arming themselves so they will have the tools to defend themselves.

No doubt the Israeli government would loosen up its gun-control measures to empower its militarily trained citizens to serve as force multipliers fighting alongside regular army members.

This may have been on General Brawner’s mind when he floated the idea of incentivizing enlistment in the reservist force for civilians who actually know their way around guns, either as defense or sports-minded individuals.

The concept of citizen-soldiers is nothing new, and, presently, like in Ukraine, as it defends against the invading Russians, its adoption is born out of necessity.

Other countries that face very real threats have also embraced the idea of ensuring that all able-bodied citizens are given the training to always be ready to help repulse foreign invasions or massive terror attacks.

To name a few, aside from Israel, Taiwan and South Korea have always been on an elevated defensive footing with the ever-present threat coming from China and North Korea, respectively.

During World War 2, French resistance fighters and, of course, our very own guerrilla fighters who fought the Japanese in the mountains best exemplified the necessity of having citizens with martial inclinations.

At the extreme end of the equation would be Sparta of a bygone era, the most combative of the Greek city-states, where males were raised and trained to become warriors.

As the saying that has been proven correct by the gritty Ukrainians standing up to the vaunted war machinery of Vladimir Putin’s Russia, it’s not the size of the dog that matters, but the size of the fight in even the smallest of dogs. Here, imagine a mini-pinscher bowling over the so-called Apollo of the canine kingdom, the Great Dane.

In mobilizing the citizens, the government must emphasize, above all else, not just acquiring the necessary skills to make enemies think twice about venturing into our neck of the woods but having a strong sense of duty and honor. Courage and discipline should always go together.