NTF-ELCAC calls for rigorous verification in issuance of SCPs to ex-rebels

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict on Thursday called for a rigorous verification in the issuance of safe conduct passes to former rebels applying for amnesty.

In a statement, the NTF-ELCAC said the National Amnesty Commission, along with the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, is tasked with ensuring  that only legitimate and qualified applicants receive protection under the program.

“Verification must be rigorous. The government’s vigilance must be unwavering,” said Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., NTF-ELCAC executive director.

“The SCP must not serve as a free pass to evade accountability for those who still seek to wreak havoc against the Filipino people. It must serve our strategy to permanently dismantle the communist terrorist machinery, weaken its recruitment, and protect our communities from ideological re-infiltration,” he added.

The statement comes after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. last week authorized the NAC to issue SCPs — providing protection from arrest, detention, and prosecution —  to former rebels seeking to apply for amnesty.

Torres said many of the former rebels have continued to face legal threats in the past six years due to offenses committed in carrying out their political tasks, obstructing their full reintegration in society.

“The issuance of the SCP is, therefore, a humane, necessary, and tactical instrument that allows them to move freely and participate fully in the healing and rebuilding of our nation,” he said.

“This initiative is our government’s clear acknowledgment of their invaluable role in attaining the relative peace and insurgency-free status now enjoyed across much of the country. The government extends this safe passage to recognize the efforts of those who have chosen to build rather than destroy and to unify rather than divide,” he added.—Jon Viktor Cabuenas/AOL, GMA Integrated News