Support sought for Left amnesty

Manila: Lawmakers of the treasury benches are seeking colleagues' support for two Bills backing President Gloria Arroyo's plan to lure Communist rebels with an amnesty offer and monetary benefits.

Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said the Bills support a presidential proclamation which grants amnesty to all Communist armed groups together with a benefit package amounting to 100,000 pesos (Dh7,692) for each reformed rebel.

Romualdez spoke at the hearing of the House Committee on Justice chaired by Rep Matias Defensor which is discussing the resolutions to concur the amnesty programme that Arroyo announced on September 6. House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr, Defensor and House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora are the co-authors of concurrent resolution.

Romualdez said priority should be given to the amnesty proposal to ensure a return to normalcy for the families of the rebels.

New lease of life

He said the offer will give the rebels a new lease of life "by extinguishing their criminal liability for acts committed in pursuit of political beliefs, without prejudice to the grantee's civil liability for injuries or damages caused to private person".

"Congress must concur with dispatch to the amnesty proclamation issued by President Arroyo which is very essential to attain peace and reconciliation in the country. I hope our brothers and sisters in armed struggle will not ignore this very kind offering of the government," Romualdez said in a statement.

Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casino doubted whether the amnesty will succeed, saying the root causes of rebellion in the country are not being sincerely addressed by the government.

"I think it is a useless measure and will suffer the same fate as previous proclamations because it is not founded on addressing the causes of rebellion," said Casino.

The government will set aside up to 500 million pesos under the programme.

Communist rebels who decide to accept the offer willl surrender their weapons, presidential adviser on the peace process Jesus Dureza said.