MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed an executive order creating the National Amnesty Commission (NAC), Malacañang said Monday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the commission will consist of seven members, including a chairperson and two regular members which will be appointed by the President.
Heads of the Department of Justice, Department of National Defense, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Office of Presidential Peace Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPPAPRU) will become ex-officio members of the Commission.
Roque said the OPPAPRU will be the secretariat of the commission.
The primary task of the NAC will be to process the applications for amnesty and determine those who are eligible “in connection with the recent amnesty proclamations pending concurrence of Congress.”
“Naipadala na sa Kongreso ang mga amnesty proclamation para sa kanilang concurrence o pag sang-ayon,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.
(Amnesty proclamations were already sent to Congress for their concurrence.)
“Ang amnesty po parang hindi nangyari ang mga bagay bagay na nagawa ng mga ilang grupo na usually isang krimen na magiging krimen ng rebellion kaya kinakailangan din ng concurrence sa Kongreso nito dahil binubura hindi lang yung nangyari, kundi pati ang parusa,” he added.
(Amnesty erases the punishment, not only the crime.)
Malacañang has yet to provide a copy of the EO to the media.