KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 18 July) – Several members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday to declare during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24 the extension of the application period for the grant of amnesty to members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and grant a blanket amnesty to qualified applicants to give them a new lease on life.
Deputy Parliament Speaker Atty. Lanang Ali Jr. said the amnesty application period for the MILF and MNLF members and other revolutionary groups expired last January 24.
“We are asking the President to extend the application for amnesty for MILF and MNLF members. The granting of amnesty will help sustain the gains of the Bangsamoro peace process,” Ali said in a hybrid press conference livestreamed from Cotabato City.
On February 5, 2021, then President Rodrigo signed Proclamations 1090, 1091, 1092 and 1093, granting amnesty to members of the MILF (1090) and MNLF (1091), the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa – Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (1092) and the “communist terrorist group” (1093), “who have committed crimes in pursuit of their political beliefs, whether punishable under the Revised Penal Code or special penal laws” such as rebellion or insurrection, conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion or insurrection, among others.
Applications for the grant of amnesty in the four proclamations, however, are to be filed with the National Amnesty Commission (NAC) within one year from the effectivity of the Proclamation. The Proclamation took effect on January 24, 2022. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives concurred on Proclamations 1090, 1091 and 1092. Only the HoR concurred on Proclamation 1093.
The NAC, however, was constituted only last February 2023, when the year-long period for application had already lapsed. The NAC is chaired by Atty. Leah Tanodra-Armamento with Atty. Nasser Marohomsalic and Atty. Jamar Kulayan as commissioners.
Ali noted that it needs another presidential proclamation to extend the deadline for application beyond January 24, 2023.
Deputy Floor Leader Mary Ann Arnado appealed to Marcos to address the extension of application and implementation of the amnesty program for members of the two Moro fronts during his SONA on July 24.
“We appeal to President Marcos to extend and fully complete the amnesty program in the spirit of unity,” she said, recalling that Marcos ran under the slogan of unity.
Arnado pointed out that there remains only a small window until the filing of certificates of candidacy for the mid-term and the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections in May 2025.
The mandate of the BTA, the interim body tasked to govern the Bangsamoro region, will end on June 30, 2025, when the first set of elected Parliament officials shall have taken their oath of office.
The filing of certificates of candidacy for the May 2025 polls is in October next year, or 15 months from now. The BTA ends its term 22 months from now, on June 30, 2025.
The amnesty for the former MILF rebels is one of the items needed to be completed within the transition period, Arnado said.
Arnado, a lawyer who spent at least two decades of peace work in the Bangsamoro, said the grant of amnesty to former MILF combatants is part of the normalization track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), the peace agreement signed by the government and MILF in 2014 after 17 years of peace negotiations.
Mandated by the CAB and its enabling law, RA 11054 (Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), the grant of amnesty is to be completed within the transition period.
“By granting them blanket amnesty (for waging an armed revolution against the government), you remove the sword hanging over their heads that they can be arrested anytime. Amnesty is about forgiveness,” she said.
The normalization track also provides for the decommissioning of MILF forces and weapons, the transformation of six recognized MILF camps into peaceful and productive economic zones, disbandment of private armed groups, and the redeployment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from or within the Bangsamoro region, among others.
Ali said that the 40,000-strong MILF had already decommissioned at least 24,000 fighters.
“Dapat suklian sa pamamagitan ng pag grant ng amnesty (It should be repaid by granting amnesty to those decommissioned combatants,” he said, noting that doing so constitutes part of the government’s continuing confidence-building measures.
Member of Parliament Baileng Mantawil said that by extending and granting amnesty to MILF and MNLF members, Marcos will have the opportunity “to leave a legacy of peace, reconciliation and unity that will resonate throughout generations to come.”
“Without amnesty, our combatants (will) remain vulnerable to the haunting specter of potential criminal charges. Fear and uncertainty (would) loom large over their lives, as they will constantly live under the shadow of being raided or apprehended at any moment,” she said.
“This is not the path to lasting peace but rather a continuation of the mistrust that has plagued our people for far too long,” she added.
Aside from Ali, Arnado and Mantawil, the other BTA members who expressed support for the extension of the amnesty application period are Atty. Randolph Parcasio, Dr. Susana Anayatin, Ustadz Abdulkarim Misuari and his sister Nurredha Misuari, Tawakal Midtimbang, Suharto Esmael, Akmad Abas, Abdullah Hashim and Marjanie Macasalong.
Once Marcos signs the proclamation extending the previous amnesty proclamations, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity said it expects at least 50,000 applications for amnesty coming from former MILF and MNLF combatants.
In a resolution adopted on November 21, 2022, the BTA noted that “at least 7,600 prospective applicants can avail of the amnesty,” citing a speech of former Senator Panfilo Lacson on January 24, 2022 in support of the granting of amnesty to MILF and MNLF members.
“Never in our history has our nation sought and demanded a ‘time of healing’ with much fervor and tenacity than we do today – healing from the health crisis which scarred our people, healing from the economic, social and political distress that, by and large, spoiled our nation,” it quoted Lacson as saying.
The resolution already noted the need then to extend the period for application for amnesty.
Last October, the Action for Advancement and Development Mindanao submitted to Mohagher Iqbal, the MILF Peace Implementing Panel chair, 523 application folders for amnesty from members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF), the MILF’s armed wing, to be endorsed to the National Amnesty Commission. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
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