Amnesty seekers get safe passes from gov’t
COTABATO CITY—In a historic event for the peace process in the country, the national government began issuing safe conduct passes (SCPs) to former rebels who are seeking amnesty for their political offenses.
During a ceremony here on Wednesday, the National Amnesty Commission (NAC) handed SCPs to the first batch of amnesty seekers from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
NAC Chair Leah Tanodra-Armamento said she was hopeful the recent issuance of SCPs will encourage more former rebels to apply for amnesty, knowing that they will be safe from possible arrest due to criminal charges lodged against them in the course of their previous fight against the government on account of their political beliefs.
Through Memorandum Order No. 36, President Marcos last month authorized the NAC to issue the SCPs to amnesty seekers.
The SCP, according to the NAC, “is a tool that will allow amnesty applicants to access the amnesty program without the fear of being arrested, ensuring their safety and security while they await the results of their applications.”
The NAC had expected the number of amnesty applications to at least double due to the availability of this tool.
As of May 30, the NAC had received, through its 20 Local Amnesty Boards (LABs) around the country, 2,882 applications: 1,957 from members of the CPP-NPA, 546 from the MILF, 312 from the MNLF, and 67 from the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas-Revolutionary Proletarian Army (RPMP-RPA).
Trust
As of April, nearly 300 applications have been resolved by LABs, and more than 100 were under review before endorsement by the commission to the Office of the President for final action.
Wednesday’s ceremony was graced by Bangsamoro Chief Minister Abdulraof “Sammy Gambar” Macacua who also heads the MILF’s military wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, which is in the process of being decommissioned in keeping with a peace deal it forged with the government.
Macacua said the SCP now in the hands of former rebels were “not mere documents but powerful symbols of trust between the government and the former combatants.”
“Today, we do more than hand over pieces of paper. We hand over symbols of trust. We hand over keys to a new beginning. And we open a door that many of us have fought for, struggled for, and prayed for over the course of decades,” Macacua said.
“To our fellow mujahideen, may this moment remind us that the struggle was never for war itself but for the right to live in peace, with honor and self-determination. We are now writing a new chapter in that struggle, a chapter of peace we must author together,” he added.
Confidence-building act
The grant of amnesty is a major confidence-building measure spelled out in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro that the MILF signed with the government in 2014.
In November 2023, President Marcos granted amnesty to former members of the MILF, MNLF, CPP-NPA and RPMP-RPA to help jumpstart national healing and reconciliation. Congress concurred with the amnesty proclamations last year.
Macacua paid tribute to this policy, describing it as “a reconciliation effort that is difficult to resist.”
The deadline for submitting amnesty applications is in March 2026.
