• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Apolinario Gatmaitan Command (AGC) of the New People’s Army (NPA) has claimed that the amnesty program of the Marcos administration is “bogus and obtuse”.
In a statement, AGC-NPA spokesperson Ka Maoche Legislador said the government is contradicting itself by issuing Proclamation 404, which stated that amnesty granted to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and NPA “shall not cover terrorism” among others, while the CPP-NPA has been tagged by the Anti-Terrorism Council as “terrorists.”
“That logic alone proves how insincere the Marcos Jr. regime is in addressing the roots of the armed conflict,” he added.
However, the Joint Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (JRTF–ELCAC) for Western Visayas expressed its support to what it calls landmark proclamations of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in granting amnesty to members of various groups engaged in armed conflict against the state.
“By winning the peace, it ends the local communist armed conflict,” the JRTF– ELCAC Western Visayas said in a press statement.
Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, JRTF6-ELCAC spokesperson, said, “we believe that violence will not be the solution to the problems of the Filipino nation.”
Meanwhile, Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. said the amnesty is a significant step towards the full transformation into productive and peace-loving citizens of both active and former members of the NPA, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Moro National Liberation Front, and Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa-Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade.
“The amnesty program will allow them to transition into peaceful and productive civilian life through the restoration of their social and political rights, which will provide them greater participation and engagement with the broader community,” Galvez said. | GB
