House adopts 4 concurrent resolutions favoring Marcos' amnesty to rebels
At A Glance
- As promised, the House of Representatives adopted the four concurrent resolutions that favored President Marcos' grant of amnesty to various rebel groups before Congress' Christmas break.
The House plenary. (Speaker’s office)
As promised, the House of Representatives adopted the four concurrent resolutions that favored President Marcos' grant of amnesty to various rebel groups before Congress' Christmas break.
Adopted separately during plenary session Tuesday night, Dec. 12 were House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) Nos. 19, 20, 21, and 22.
The individual measures concurred with the Palace amnesty given to rebels from the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB), Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army-National Democratic Front (CP-NPA-NDF), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), respectively.
Earlier this month, House Speaker Martin Romualdez vowed to have the these concurrent resolutions---which support the Marcos administration’s all-encompassing peace agenda--adopted before the Christmas break.
“We will act with dispatch on these concurrent resolutions and we will strive to approve them before our Christmas break so that rebels who sincerely desire to return to the fold of law and lead normal lives, along with the members of their family, and our nation in general, could enjoy the blessings of peace as soon as possible,” Romualdez said last Dec. 1.
The final session day of the year is on Wednesday, Dec. 13.
The amnesty proclamations issued by President Marcos to the rebels “shall take effect upon concurrence by a majority of all the members of the Congress". An estimated 9,900 rebels will benefited from them.
HCR Nos. 19, 20, 21, and 22 underwent nominal voting one by one during Tuesday's plenary session. Nominal voting entails individual voting by the House members.
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Of the four, HCR Nos. 19 and 21 were adopted via unanimous vote (221-yes, 0-no, 0-abstain and 230-0-0, respectively).
Despite not being unanimous, HCR Nos. 20 and 22 were still overwhelmingly approved by the chamber (225-3-0 and 229-1-0, respectively).
The amnesty provided by the four HCRs covers crimes committed in pursuit of the rebels' political beliefs, whether punishable under the Revised Penal Code or special penal laws.
Romualdez has expressed strong backing of the amnesty grants amid the criticism of certain personalities in government.
"It is imperative that we concur with the amnesty proclaimed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. for the general interest of Filipinos and for a lasting peace, unity and reconciliation,” the authors of the concurrent resolutions said.