The Arroyo government said Tuesday it is considering the inclusion of the notorious Abu Sayyaf leaders in its amnesty program to put an end to the group's reign of terror on Mindanao island. The government issued the statement even as the Philippine military is preparing to launch a massive campaign against the Abu Sayyaf and other outlaws in Sulu and Basilan provinces. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has instructed her top security aides to thoroughly review the coverage of an amnesty proclamation she signed in 2007. Proclamation 1377 grants amnesty for communist rebels to tempt them to return to the fold of the law. The amnesty also covers the crime of rebellion and all other crimes “in pursuit of political beliefs” except for rape, torture, kidnapping for ransom, use and trafficking of illegal drugs. Earlier, Senator Richard Gordon proposed that the government extends its amnesty offer to Abu Sayyaf rebels to resolve the security problems in Mindanao. Ermita said Gordon's proposal deserves a careful study. “Amnesty covers political crimes, but then if it will help us in silencing the guns by giving them (Abu Sayyaf rebels) the opportunity we will have to make a careful study on the coverage of the presidential amnesty that will be drafted,” he said. Even as government troops pursue lawbreakers, Ermita said the government can use the amnesty program to convince enemies of the state to surrender their guns and rejoin the folds of the law. He said under the amnesty proposal, rebel returnees are given ample socio-economic assistance “so there will be no more reason to pursue kidnapping,” he said. Ermita said Gordon told him that the elder Abu Sayyaf leaders have somehow “mellowed their activities” and could be convinced to surrender to the government through a peaceful program. “The rebel commanders who are already old have grown tired of being hunted,” he said. Once the aging Abu Sayyaf leaders surrender, the younger rebels would be easier to deal with since the old leaders are the ones giving them refuge when soldiers are pursuing them, Ermita said. However, granting amnesty to Abu Sayyaf rebels should not mean an end to the military operations against them, Ermita said. He said government troops would pursue without letup the Abu Sayyaf rebels responsible for the abduction of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers following the safe release of Italian ICRC worker Eugenio Vagni and his two colleagues. “Now that we have recovered Mr. Vagni safely, then there will be no restraint for the police and military to undertake the appropriate measures to account for the perpetrators,” Ermita said. Lawmakers immediately raised a howl over the proposal to grant amnesty to the Abu Sayyaf bandits as a way of achieving peace in Mindanao. Assistant House Minority Leader Roilo Golez and Rep. Rufino Biazon said the only way the bandits can return to normal life is to surrender and pay for the crimes they have committed. Rep. Rodolfo Plaza said Abu Sayyaf members are not qualified for amnesty, noting that the government has classified them as a “kidnap-for-ransom and a terrorist group,” thus making the amnesty proposal untenable. “This group does not even have a religious and political cause worth fighting for. They are just plain bandits,” Plaza said. Golez said he is not in favor of President Arroyo granting amnesty to members of the terrorist group. “Amnesty should be only for those accused of political offenses. Not for kidnapping, murder, arson, beheadings, etc,” Golez said. On the other hand, Biazon said the government maintains a policy of not negotiating with terrorists. “If they want to go back into the fold of society, they should surrender and not be given amnesty,” he said.
