COTABATO CITY—Action for Advancement and Development of Mindanao (AFADMin) turned over a list of more than 400 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants who may avail amnesty and pardon to Member of Paliament (MP) Mohagher Iqbal on Tuesday, Oct.4, in this city.
AFADMin is a Non-Government Organization tasked to scout MILF commanders and members who are charged of crimes and having warrant of arrest, as provided in the Presidential Proclamation No. 1090 of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte which grants amnesty and pardon.
AFADMin Consultant Atty. Badrodin Maguindra said they have collected the list of 400 MILF commanders and members from different areas of BARMM, including those who are detained in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig and Bilibid in Muntinlupa, who applied for amnesty and pardon.
“There were some challenges as the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the National Amnesty Commission (NAC) were not available to guide the application process and that there were no clear guidelines from both MILF and Government panels,” Maguindra said.
He said the Proclamation 1090 is quite challenging compared to former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada’s General Amnesty, wherein a certificate must be presented to prove that one is an MILF member.
“In Proclamation 1090, it is done individually. You to have to go to amnesty commission and prove to the commissioners that you’ve done such in furtherance of political ideologies of the MILF [and] it will be expired by January 2023,” he said.
With this, Iqbal, who also chairs the MILF Peace Implementing Panel, said, “it is my hope and sincere recognition that the process of granting amnesty should be fast-tracked basically by the government. In the part of MILF Panel, this is a very important aspect of normalization process.”
“If it is [being] analyzed through ideological considerations, MILF has not done wrong but it is part of the global conflict resolutions, methodologies, and on the basis of the advice of our ulamah (Muslim scholars) for the sake of peace and best practices all over the world,” he added.
Iqbal was hopeful that President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. would quicken the amnesty and pardon process.
In support of this request, Congressman Ziaur-Rahman “Zia” Alonto Adiong filed House Resolution No. 193 last Aug. 8, urging Pres. Marcos Jr. to immediately appoint NAC members to speed up the MILF and also the Moro National Liberation Front’s (MNLF) amnesty and pardon process and engagement. (Majid Nul/BIO)
