(Eagle News) — President Bongbong Marcos on Monday, July 24, said he would issue a proclamation granting amnesty to rebel returnees.
In making the announcement in his second State of the Nation Address, the President also called on Congress to “support” the endeavor.
Article VII Section 19 of the 1987 Constitution stipulates that the President of the Philippines “has the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of a majority of all the members of the Congress.”
“For almost half a century, some of our fellow Filipinos have taken to arms to make their views known and felt. We are now at a point when their armed struggle has evolved and progressed towards peace and development,” the President noted.
He said that “to guarantee full decommissioning of combatants,” the government has also “provided community development, livelihood assistance in our reintegration process.”