The national government has again reiterated its call for active and former communist rebels to take advantage of its amnesty offer so they can restart life anew as peaceful and productive citizens.
But the question is: Will they bite the government offer?
Maybe the former rebels who are now in jail or have voluntarily left the underground movement for one reason or another would take advantage of the amnesty offer.
For the armed rebels still in the hills and continuing to engage the military in so-called ‘tactical offensives’ as part of the larger ‘protracted people’s war’ that began in Dece. 1968 with the establishment of the Communist Party of the Philippines and later its armed component, the New People’s Army, surrendering to the AFP and applying for amnesty could be the least of their concerns, at least for now.
On the part of the former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front which has forged a peace pact with the government and now expects to take a leadership role in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao or BARMM, the amnesty offer is a welcome one, since they get a financial windfall to restart life anew.
As of December last year, a total 1,665 former rebels have so far applied for the amnesty program offered by the government.
At least 1,260 of the applicants are under verification, with another 331 up for conference, 33 for resolution, while 41 others have been resolved by the Local Amnesty Boards and are up for review by the National Amnesty Commission.
Of these applications, 1,061 were former members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front and their front organizations; 344 were from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front; while 241 were from the Moro National Liberation Front.
What are the benefits of amnesty? If granted, amnesty can restore all suspended or lost civil and political rights resulting from criminal conviction and eliminate all criminal liability for acts covered, such as rebellion or insurrection, conspiracy to commit rebellion, sedition, illegal possession of firearms, ammunition or explosives, and relative crimes of rebellion, among others.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., head of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity said the government’s amnesty program is its “best policy” for dealing with enemies of the state. Based on the amnesty proclamations, the period for filing applications will close in the first quarter of 2026.
Buoyed by what it described as its “banner achievements” last year, the OPAPRU has lined up more initiatives this year aimed at transforming the lives and communities of former rebels to further advance the comprehensive peace process.
OPAPRU’s total budget for 2025 is P7-billion, of which amount P5.3-billion will cover the implementation and sustain the momentum of OPAPRU’s high-impact projects under its PAyapa at MAsaganang PamayaNAn (PAMANA) Program.
But 74 percent of this would be used for transformation programs and projects for former Moro and communist rebels.
