The National Amnesty Commission (NAC) announced Wednesday, Feb. 26, that it has received and processed 127 amnesty applications from former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the highest intake recorded to date.
The NAC said that 104 applications came from members of the MILF while 23 were from the MNLF.
“This intake bumped the total number of received applications to 517 and 297 for the MILF and MNLF, respectively,” the NAC said.
President Marcos Jr. issued Proclamation Nos. 403, 404, 405, and 404 on Nov. 22, 2023 which granted amnesty to former rebels and insurgents who have committed crimes punishable under the Revised Penal Code and Special Penal laws in furtherance of their political beliefs.
The deadline for the submission of amnesty applications is in March 2026.
OPAPRU Caravan
Meanwhile, hundreds of MILF and MNLF members, as well as their families, were served by the government in Lamitan City, Basilan through the Inter-Cabinet Cluster Mechanism on Normalization (ICCMN) Caravan on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) said 24 ICCMN member agencies including six ministries from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government, the provincial government of Basilan, and Lamitan City participated in the caravan to provide various interventions such as agricultural inputs, medical services, civil registration, cooperative registration, health insurance, internet access, and amnesty applications for former rebels.
Education booths were also set up by international partners such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Non-violent Peace Force, Swiss non-government organization (NGO) Fondation Suisse de Deminage, and private sector groups like the Ayala Foundation, explaining to beneficiaries how to access the government’s peace, educational, development, gender, and social enterprise programs.
The UNDP also turned over a multipurpose speedboat to the local government unit, while the Land Bank provided a booth for financial education.
The ICCMN is a body created by virtue of Executive Order No. 79, amended by EO No. 6 s. 2022, to ensure timely, appropriate, and efficient delivery of the Normalization Program under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB).
It is currently co-chaired by the Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Anton Lagdameo and OPAPRU Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.