83 former rebels apply for amnesty

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• GILBERT P. BAYORAN

A total of 83 former New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Negros Occidental have applied for amnesty before the Local Amnesty Board (LAB) Bacolod as of July 9, the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade said in a statement on Thursday (July 10).

These include 53 former rebels, who surrendered to the 79th Infantry Battalion and 30 others who gave themselves up to the 62nd Infantry Battalion.

The 79IB assisted the 53 former rebels in the processing and filing of amnesty, said 1Lt. Dan Carlo Samoza, its civil- military operations officer.

Some former rebels who applied for amnesty before the Local Amnesty Board in Bacolod City. | PA photo

Samoza said that majority of these former rebels are members of the indigenous people’s community in northern Negros.

The number of former rebels, who will avail of the government amnesty program, is expected to increase as those who surrendered to the 94th Infantry Battalion will also travel to Bacolod City to file their applications.

The five-day filing of amnesty applications started on July 8 will end on July 12.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order No. 47 in November last year, amending Executive Order No. 125, series of 2021, for the creation of the National Amnesty Commission to cover the processing of the applications for amnesty under Proclamations 403, 404, 405 and 406.

Under Proclamation 404, Marcos granted amnesty to the former members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) who have committed crimes punishable under the Revised Penal Code and Special Penal laws in furtherance of their political beliefs, among other offenses.

The granting of amnesty is also among the main confidence-building measures under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s local peace engagement framework, Normalization Program under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, Transformation Program for Moro National Liberation Front members, and the clarificatory implementing document signed between the national government and the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade or Kapatiran.

Col. Victor Llapitan, deputy commander of the 303rd Infantry Brigade and a member of the LAB Bacolod, said that the positive response from the former rebels indicates their trust and support for the program.

Llapitan expressed hope that through the government’s amnesty program, all former rebels in Negros would be granted amnesty for their smooth reintegration into mainstream society.

Those granted amnesty would regain their political and civil rights and be seamlessly reintegrated into society without repercussions for their past actions, he added. | GB