Peace monitors back amnesty extension for MILF members
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 7 May 2026) – The independent Third Party Monitoring Team (TPMT) has expressed support for the extension of the amnesty program for members of the 40,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
In its 119-page 9th Public Report released last Tuesday in Makati City, the TPMT pointed out that the amnesty program for the MILF “has begun to gather momentum after a slow start.”
“It would make sense to further extend the amnesty application period which expired in March this year,” the report stated.
The amnesty application for MILF combatants ended last March 4.
In a press statement, the TPMT, chaired by former European Union diplomat Heino Marius, said: “We support an extension of the application period by another year to encourage more interested persons to come forward.”
The National Amnesty Commission (NAC) earlier proposed the extension of the amnesty program for all rebel groups for two years.
The proposal was discussed during the 9th Executive Committee Meeting of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) held at Malacañang last April 22.
Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., NTF-ELCAC executive director, said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. backed the proposal to extend the amnesty program until 2028.
On November 22, 2023, Marcos issued Proclamation Nos. 403, 404, 405, and 406 granting amnesty to members of the Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawa ng Pilipinas/Revolutionary Proletarian Army/Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPMP-RPA-ABB), Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army – National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF), MILF and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), respectively.
As contained under Section 19, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, the President shall have the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of the majority of members of Congress.
The NAC has received a total of 16,207 amnesty applications, significantly exceeding the initial target of 10,000 and representing a 62% increase over the projected figures, according to Atty. Jamar Kulayan, NAC Commissioner.
Most amnesty applicants are CPP-NPA-NDF members at 13,863, with the MILF at 1,240, NAC data showed.
Marcos has granted amnesty to only 20 applicants so far – 19 from the CPP-NPA-NDF and one from the MILF.
The only amnesty grantee from the MILF is Jannati Mimbantas, commander of the MILF Northeastern Mindanao Front. He has been serving as a member of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority or Bangsamoro Parliament under the name Basit Abas.
Kulayan said that amnesty restores the civil and political rights of the grantees.
In its statement, the TPMT suggested that the actual granting of amnesties must be accelerated.
The amnesty program for MILF rebels is part of the confidence-building measures under the normalization track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB), which the Government of the Philippines and the MILF signed in 2014 after 17 years of negotiations.
The TPMT, which is mandated to monitor, review and assess the implementation of the CAB, pointed out that the implementation of the normalization track has been lagging behind the political track of the CAB.
The TPMT’s 9th Public Report covered the period November 2023 to April 2026. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
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