Guerillas of the New People's Army (NPA) are seen in the Sierra Madre mountain range in 2017. Photo: AFP
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https://scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3122021/philippine-president-duterte-approves-amnesty-programme Southeast Asia
Philippines insurgency: Duterte approves amnesty programme for Muslim, communist rebels
- President Rodrigo Duterte’s orders, yet to be passed by Congress, will allow thousands of guerillas to surrender their weapons to return to normal life
- But the programme excludes the notoriously brutal Abu Sayyaf and other small armed bands associated with Islamic State
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has promised to resolve Muslim and communist insurgencies before he leaves office next year, saying in his declaration that there is a need to reintegrate all rebels and insurgents into mainstream society. Photo: AP
The president of the Philippines has approved an amnesty programme for Muslim and communist rebels who would agree to surrender their weapons to return to normal life, in the latest such attempt to tame rural insurgencies that have raged for half a century.
Thousands of guerillas belonging to two large Muslim groups in the country’s south and a communist rebel faction could apply for the amnesty within a year after it gets approved by Congress, according to President Rodrigo Duterte’s signed orders made public late on Tuesday.
The three rebel groups have signed separate peace deals with Duterte’s predecessors which have eased decades of fighting but have not been fully enforced due to unresolved issues.
Leaders of the largest armed group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, have been put in charge temporarily of administering a new Muslim autonomous region in the south while thousands of its fighters are disarmed.
“It’s welcome as long as it’s based on our peace agreement,” said Moro Islamic Liberation Front spokesman Von Al Haq.
His rebel group’s peace deal with the government provides for a general amnesty with an agreed manner of “decommissioning”, a subtle term for disarming thousands of its combatants in batches depending largely on government compliance with the peace pact.
Duterte also agreed to include former insurgents who once belonged to the main communist New People’s Army in his amnesty programme.
He labelled the NPA a “terrorist group” in his amnesty proclamation, and his administration’s peace talks with the Marxist group collapsed after both sides accused each other of launching attacks despite negotiations brokered by Norway.
Duterte, 75, has promised to resolve Muslim and communist insurgencies before he leaves office. His six-year term ends in June next year.
“There is a need to reintegrate as soon as possible all rebels and insurgents into the mainstream society under the rule of law, including those who may have committed unlawful acts,” Duterte said in his amnesty proclamation.
The amnesty “shall extinguish any criminal liability for acts committed in pursuit of political beliefs” and restore political and civil rights, which were lost due to criminal conviction, the proclamation said.
The amnesty would not cover kidnappings for ransom, massacres, rape, terrorism, drug trafficking and certain crimes the UN says should never be covered by amnesties, such as genocide, crimes against humanity and torture.
The amnesty programme excludes the notoriously brutal Abu Sayyaf and other small armed bands associated with Islamic State.
The Abu Sayyaf has been blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organisation for kidnappings for ransom, beheadings and suicide bombings. It has been weakened by years of battle setbacks, surrenders and continuing military offensives but remains a security threat.