Palace won’t revise list of Magdalo soldiers

MANILA -- Malacanang stood by the list it submitted to the Senate for the amnesty hearing, saying there is nothing wrong with it.

“As far as the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) is concerned I don’t think we committed any mistake regarding the submission of the list,” Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Jose Amor Amorado said.

The Senate earlier suspended the hearing on amnesty due to the inclusion of Senator Gringo Honasan and other communist rebels in the Malacanang list, which contradicted the one prepared by the military Judge Advocate General's Office (Jago).

Amorado explained that Honasan and other members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) were included in the list since they have pending cases in relation to the Marine standoff last February 2006, thus they are considered as possible applicants to the amnesty.

The amnesty applies for those involved in Oakwood Mutiny in July 2003, the Marine standoff last February 2006, and the Manila Peninsula siege in November 2007, the Palace official noted.

“If you have a pending case regarding any of these incidents then we take it that you are a possible applicant,” he said.

“Possible applicant meaning it is not necessary that you will apply. It is up to you if you will apply for amnesty or not,” he added.

He also noted that the list did not come from the OES but only furnished by the departments such as Department of Justice, Department of National Defense (DND), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

He said they will not revise the list as requested by the Senate before resuming the hearing. “We will not revise the list. We will only come up with an amplified list containing the status of the cases.” (Jill Beltran/Sunnex)