NTF-ELCAC exec says amnesty key to ending insurgency

From the Philippine News Agency (Aug 3, 2023): NTF-ELCAC exec says amnesty key to ending insurgency (By Priam Nepomuceno)

MANILA – The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said the government's amnesty program is the key to beating the country's long-standing insurgency threat.

"This is a golden opportunity for us to finally put an end to (the) insurgency in our country. We are confident that sooner rather than later, we will be ending the scourge of insurgency in our country," NTF-ELCAC Secretariat executive director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr. said in a post of the body's Facebook page on Thursday.

He also expressed belief that these "communist terrorist groups" (CTGs) will go for the amnesty program due to the "leadership vacuum" currently being experienced by the insurgents following the death and neutralization of their ranking leaders.

"These CTGs will embrace the amnesty because of the 'leadership vacuum' with the death of (Communist Party of the Philippines founding chair) Jose Maria Sison or Joma and other top cadres, some of whom were already either perished or arrested in military and police encounters," Torres said.

He added that there are only an estimated 1,865 remaining listed members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army- National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

Adding to the woes of these remaining insurgents is the "local peace engagement" which Torres said is preventing the CPP-NPA-NDF from getting back the support of its "mass bases" in far-flung barangays (villages) as the government is pouring in basic social services for peace and development.

Torres said the amnesty will be the country's "vehicle towards the path of final victory" against insurgency.

Earlier, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s proclamation of amnesty will "accelerate transformation of former rebels."

He also revealed the proposed National Amnesty Commission (NAC) is determined to fast-track the implementation of the government’s amnesty program for qualified members of revolutionary organizations, including secessionist Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Galvez said the amnesty would not only “give former rebels relief for the crimes they have committed, but will provide an opportunity for them to rebuild their lives.”

"Nakikita nila (former rebels) ang sincerity ng government, offering civil protection while their offenses will also be extinguished (through this amnesty)," Galvez explained.

The OPAPRU chief, who is also an amnesty recipient in 1989 for joining a military coup against the late President Corazon Aquino, believed that aside from transforming former rebels’ lives, amnesty gives socio-economic programs that will help them sustain and improve their quality of life.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1207037