NTF-Elcac asks communist rebels to surrender, seek amnesty
INQUIRER File Photo
MANILA, Philippines — Officials of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) on Saturday called on communist insurgents still fighting the government to lay down their weapons and avail themselves of the amnesty that the government will be issuing soon.
In a news forum in Quezon City, NTF-Elcac Director Alexander Umpar said a government working group is helping craft the amnesty proclamation that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will likely issue this month, which is National Peace Consciousness Month.
“There is a working group tackling this (proclamation) and making referrals [to the President] and we think that it might be issued during the National Peace Consciousness Month,” he said.
The amnesty will have to be approved by both houses of Congress, in accordance with the Constitution.
Umpar said the proclamation would complete the reintegration of the former rebels and restore their political rights.
He said the National Amnesty Commission (NAC) will establish local amnesty boards that will accept and process applications for amnesty by former communist rebels.
Umpar said member agencies of the NAC are also mindful of the guidance that the president issued regarding the Barangay Development Program to establish “resilient” communities and the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program to support former rebels.
Another NTF-Elcac director, Jose Descallar, said the 55 years of communist rebellion only brought hardship, misery and death to the people as the rebels fought for a “failed” ideology.
“Our economy is wasted, our progress halted. Many families were wrecked. Communism has been rejected by the world. It is a failed social experiment. It did not work in the Soviet bloc, China. Communism is no longer relevant,” Descallar said.
“We wish that they lay down your arms already. Join [us] in creating a peaceful, strong, progressive Philippines, a new Philippines where everyone is united, working together to revive the country,” he added.
Descallar claimed that the government had been winning the war against the insurgents and expected to achieve a strategic victory soon.
Citing government data, Descallar said the task force body started in 2018 confronting 89 guerrilla fronts. Today, there are only 20 guerrilla fronts in existence, after the government dismantled 69 fronts in the past four and a half years.
“Of the 20 guerrilla fronts, 19 are weakened guerrilla fronts and only one remains to be dismantled in Northern Samar. So, when we say strategic victory, this [refers to] the 19 weakened guerrilla fronts and the remaining one that is being confronted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he explained.
“There are still concerns about the armed [fronts] but they will probably not be able to mount an intense armed battle to [bring] down our government. That’s the strategic victory.”
