House panels adopt amnesty resolutions for reds, rebels

The House Committees on Justice and on National Defense on Tuesday approved House Concurrent Resolutions 19, 20, 21, and 22, which concur with Presidential Proclamations granting amnesty to former members of four rebel groups, including the communist rebels.

Under the resolutions, amnesty was granted to former members of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB), Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) who have committed crimes in pursuit of their political beliefs, whether punishable under the Revised Penal Code or special penal laws, including but not limited to the following:
a. rebellion or insurrection;
b. conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion or insurrection;
c. disloyalty of public officers or employees;
d. inciting to rebellion or insurrection;
e. sedition;
f. conspiracy to commit sedition;
g. inciting to sedition;
h. illegal assembly;
i. illegal association;
j. direct assault;
k. indirect assault;
I. resistance and disobedience to a person in authority or the agents of such person;
m. tumults and other disturbances of public order;
n. unlawful use of means of publication and unlawful utterances;
o. alarms and scandals;
p. illegal possession of firearms, ammunition or explosives, provided that these crimes or offense were committed in furtherance of, incident to, or in connection with the crimes of rebellion or insurrection; and
q. those charged, detained or convicted of common crimes but who can establish by substantial evidence that they have actually committed said crimes in pursuit of political beliefs.

“The grant of amnesty to former combatants or rebels, who may have committed unlawful acts in furtherance of their respective political beliefs and who wish to return to the folds of the law, will create a climate conducive for peace and reconciliation, pave the way for them to reintegrate into the society, and provide them access to the government’s socio-economic services,” the House Resolutions read.

“There is a need for the government to act on rebel and insurgent returnees’ request for the grant of amnesty so that they may live in peace in the pursuit of productive endeavors without prejudice to any legal arrangement that may result from a negotiated settlement which the government is pursuing with the various rebel and insurgent groups,” it added.

Secretary Carlito Galvez of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU), for his part, said the grant of amnesty to former rebels was an integral part of the confidence-building measures implemented by the National Task Force for Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC).

“The grant of amnesty is a path towards normalization that would allow these former rebels not only to fully reintegrate themselves into mainstream society as peaceful, productive and law-abiding citizens, but more importantly, enable them to rebuild their lives and ensure a better future for themselves and their families,” Galvez said.

“We want to demonstrate to these former rebels that they have made the right decision in laying down their arms and returning to the folds of the law. We want to show them that good things come to those who choose to walk the path of peace,” he said.

Armed struggle, Galvez said, cannot stamp out insurgency.

“It is only by being part of the solution, and that is by being an advocate of peace, that has allowed us to help bring positive and meaningful change to our country,” Galvez said.

House Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas, however, flagged the House Concurrent Resolution 20 granting amnesty to the “former members of the CPP-NPA-NDF or their front organizations.”

Brosas said that by conflating those who are unarmed and armed individuals who were charged with the abovementioned offenses, the amnesty proclamations restore the already repealed Republic Act No. 1700 or the Anti-Subversion Act which penalizes membership in subversive organizations espousing political beliefs.

“These proclamations do not distinguish those who took up arms from unarmed citizens. There is also a mention of front organizations which are always being used to tag people’s organizations, non-government organizations, civil society organizations as communists and harass them and endanger the lives of the activists,” Brosas said.

“In this case, this could result in an increase in human rights violations,” Brosas added. — DVM, GMA Integrated News