• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Three remnants of the dismantled Northern Negros Front (NNF) of the New People’s Army surrendered to the Philippine Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion (IB) and Philippine National Police on July 21.
In a statement, the 79IB said that the three former rebels wanted to follow the footsteps of their former comrades, who applied for government amnesty.
Fifty-three former NNF members were assisted by the 79IB in filing for amnesty before the Local Amnesty Board-Bacolod last week.
All over Western Visayas, a total of 300 former rebels filed for amnesty, according to the 3rd Infantry Division (ID).
Lt. Col. J-Jay Javines, public affairs chief of 3ID, said that the deadline for application for the government amnesty program will be on March 2026.
The amnesty will be granted to former NPA rebels with offenses in pursuit of political beliefs such as rebellion, insurrection, scandal, and disturbance, among others.
With the granting of amnesty, former rebels would be exonerated from their offenses covered by the program.
“This means if a former rebel has a warrant, they will not be imprisoned or arrested,” Javines said. | GB
