Friday, August 24, 2007
Amnesty for NPAs
By Mia E. Abellana
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
TAGBILARAN—Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado proposed a general amnesty for members of the New People’s Army, citing the success of “the Bohol Experience.”
He also wants local government officials to stay in the “forefront” in the fight against insurgency, saying it was time to
consider placing a representative from the local governments in the National Security Council.
Aumentado, who welcomed participants of the Local Peace and Security Assembly (LPSA) yesterday, said the “root cause” of insurgency was poverty, based on their experience with rebel returnees in the province.
Many rebels, he said, have expressed their intentions to return to the fold of the law and with a general amnesty in place, he expects there will be more.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines believes there just 30 to 50 NPA members in Bohol, and that some of them move around from the neighboring provinces.
Aumentado claimed that before he assumed his term as governor, 305 of the 1,109 barangays in Bohol were considered influenced, infiltrated or threatened by the NPA, which he said was “terrifying.”
Bohol was also part of the “Club 20” in 2001, which was what the poorest provinces were called.
In 2005, it was out of the Club 20 and was ranked 41st.
“In fact, Bohol was the number two best performing province in poverty reduction, which was reduced from 53.6 percent to 29.2 percent. There was a sharp reduction, correspondingly, in the CPP-NDF-NPA barangays from 305 to 46,” the governor said.
“Today, the Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office is in 284 barangays working to improve the quality of life of our people…Consequently, the number of barangays, whether influenced, infiltrated or threatened, has been reduced further to 24,” his paper proposed to the LPSA stated.
The province’s Peace and Order Council has submitted a resolution asking the national government to adopt similar measures.
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said he was “excited” to hear Aumentado’s proposal, saying he was going to take the matter up with the Cabinet.
However, he does not agree with the governor that poverty is the root cause of insurgency, saying the words of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Joma Sison would tell him otherwise.
“He wants to be in power, not through the elections, but through the barrel of a gun. He is using poverty through coercion and deception,” Gonzales said.
He also pointed out that some party-list groups have succeeded in their campaigns to get seats in the democratic government. Twenty percent of the total number of seats in the House of Representatives are reserved for party-list groups, who need to get at least two percent of party-list votes for one seat.
“We are encouraging that. What we discourage is armed rebellion,” said Gonzales, who also heads the Partido Demokratikong Sosyalista ng Pilipinas.
With the President’s order for them to eradicate insurgency by the time her term ends in 2010, Gonzales assured they will
work hard to make sure this is realized.
He said they can continue with the peace process and hold dialogues, but warned those who threaten the government. “Never on the premise of threats. If you threaten us, you will get what you want,” he said.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 24, 2007 issue)
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