ELCAC Bohol focal person Romeo Teruel shares the good news with the Provincial Peace and Order Council Legal Cluster Committee members about the establishment of a Local Amnesty Board (LAB) in Bohol by the National Amnesty Commission. (PIA Bohol)
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) — The National Amnesty Commission (NAC) is eyeing to establish in Bohol a Local Amnesty Board (LAB) to facilitate the processing and review of applications from former rebels, who are now Bohol’s partners in reform programs.
PIA in Bohol, Romeo Teruel, focal person for the Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC), said that the initiative is intended for former rebels who have surrendered and have decided to rejoin society.
Some of them may have to face criminal suits while they were involved in the communist insurgency movement, he added.
Moreover, Teruel said that the fastest way they can get cleared of criminal and civil liabilities is by earning an amnesty, something that only the President, with Congressional concurrence, can grant.
“As the NAC is primarily tasked to receive, review and process applications for amnesty, it has established nine LABs to assist them in their tasks,” Teruel said.
Aside from the NAC-established LAB in the National Capital Region, the establishment of the LAB in the province would be the third in the Visayas after Bacolod City and Iloilo City.
The LABs in Mindanao are in Cotabato City, Cagayan de Oro, Pagadian City, Davao City, Isabela City, and Jolo, Sulu.
Bohol Gov. Erico Aristotle Aumentado welcomed this move, which would help Bohol achieve an insurgency-free status.
Former members of the Communist party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and their front organizations, members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and members of the Moro National Liberation Front who have committed any act or omission in pursuit of their political beliefs, including those detained, charged or convicted of such acts or omissions may file an application for amnesty.
They may do so, provided that the crime for which the amnesty is being sought was committed before Nov. 22, 2023, according to the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Proclamation No. 405.
Persons whose amnesty applications were not considered under the previous proclamations being outside the reglementary period may also apply.
Eligible for amnesty are those whose offenses are committed in pursuit of political belief, such as rebellion or insurrection, conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion, disloyalty to public officers and employees, inciting to rebellion, tumults and public disturbances, unlawful means of publications and utterances, alarms and scandals, and illegal possession of firearms ammunition and explosives that are used in furtherance of rebellion.
Common crimes which can later be established as done in pursuit of political beliefs can be eligible for amnesty under the new IRR.
The LAB in Bohol can receive and process amnesty applications, issue and release provincial safe conduct passes for the executive committee to issue safe conduct passes, conduct preliminary investigations and verifications of the received amnesty applications for identity verification and other circumstances or conduct hearings and conferences relative to the amnesty application.
Also, the LAB can deliberate, review and recommend amnesty applications, coordinate with other LABs in the processing of amnesty applications, referrals for turned over firearms, ammunition, weapons, and explosives.
With this development, instead of submitting amnesty applications in Bacolod, Bohol rebel returnees or detained rebels can now file their applications here, making the tasks of the NAC easier. (RAHC/PIA-7 Bohol)
