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DOJ to make inventory of cases after Duterte granted amnesty to rebel groups
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Wednesday he would ask the National Prosecution Service (NPS) to come up with a list of pending cases of members of rebel groups that will benefit from the government’s amnesty program.
Guevarra said the inventory of cases should cover cases pending investigation and/or trial.
The Justice chief’s statement comes after President Rodrigo Duterte recently granted amnesty to the members of rebel groups
who committed rebellion, sedition, direct assault and other crimes in pursuit of their political beliefs, subject to the concurrence of Congress.These groups include the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and communist rebels.
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“Persons who may be eligible for amnesty shall be carefully screened and evaluated by the Amnesty Commission to determine if they actually qualify for amnesty,” Guevarra said.
“The Amnesty Commission will still determine the rules,” he added.
Duterte said the amnesty program was in line with the government’s peace initiatives.
An amnesty extinguishes criminal liability and restores the grantee’s civil and political rights lost or suspended by virtue of criminal conviction. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News