Few ex-Moro rebels applied for amnesty

IN FORMATION Members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the military arm of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, stand in military formation at Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat of the then undivided Maguindanao province in this photo taken in 2012, or two years before the group signed a peace agreement with the government. —Bong S. Sarmiento

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines — Despite an earlier pronouncement by Bangsamoro Interim Chief Ahod Ebrahim that amnesty would provide former combatants a new hope and a new lease on life, only a small number of the 40,000 strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have applied for amnesty, according to the National Amnesty Commission (NAC).

NAC said only 344 or a dismal 0.86 percent of the former rebel group’s armed forces already applied for the government’s amnesty program.

“Amnesty is integral to the implementation of the CAB (Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro),” said Cesar Yano, chair of the government peace implementing panel, as it “falls under the component of the confidence-building measures, which is under the normalization track of the CAB.”

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Yono was referring to the peace deal the government signed with the MILF in 2014, ending decades of armed conflict and after 17 years of peace negotiations.

In an earlier statement, Ebrahim said granting amnesty to former MILF combatants would allow them to get a new lease in life and seize the opportunity for healing and reconciliation.

“As a party to the peace pact with the [government], our priority is to ensure that the agreements in the CAB are mutually honored, substantially implemented, and timely completed,” Ebrahim said, adding that all the components of the normalization must progress in parallel and commensurate with each other.

No explanation

But there was no explanation yet as to why thousands of MILF members still failed to apply.

President Marcos signed Proclamation Nos. 405 and 406 in November last year, granting amnesty to MILF and MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) members, respectively, in line with the CAB’s normalization track.

Ebrahim said it was in line with the administration’s policy of “peace, reconciliation, and unity.”

But the government is encouraging not just members of the MILF and MNLF but also other rebel groups, including the Communist Party of the Philippines-led New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), to apply for amnesty.

Lawyer Jamar Kulayan, NAC commissioner, said that as of Dec. 18, a total of 1,665 individuals, including those from the MILF, MNLF, and CPP-NPA have applied for amnesty.

Of the figure, 1,260 are still up for verification, 331 for a conference, 33 for resolution, and 41 for NAC’s review.

He urged ex-combatants to apply for amnesty with local amnesty boards established in various parts of the country.

In Mindanao, the NAC has set up LABs in the cities of Cotabato, Cagayan de Oro, Pagadian, Davao, and Isabela, including Sulu province.