House leaders on Tuesday assured President Benigno Simeon Aquino III that Proclamation 50, seeking to grant amnesty to over 300 mutineers, would become a law. The lawmakers see no hurdle in the approval of a resolution that would make Aquino's proclamation into a law. In a text message to GMANews.TV, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said he favored the proclamation and vowed to back it up in the House. Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada sees no hurdle in the approval of the amnesty because 153 lawmakers have signed Resolution 524, which he filed Monday. The vote of a simple majority or half of the members of the 278 member of the House plus one is needed to approve the concurrent resolution. In the resolution, he urged Aquino to grant amnesty to all active and former members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and their supporters involved in the:
Oakwood mutiny — occurred on July 27, 2003 when 321 armed soldiers, who called themselves "Bagong Katipuneros" (New Katipuneros) took over the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center (now Ascott Makati) serviced apartment tower in Makati City. Led by Army Capt. Gerardo Gambala and then Lt. Senior Grade and now Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, the mutineers protested against the alleged corruption of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration; Manila Peninsula incident — On November 29, 2007, Trillanes, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, Capt. Nicanor Faeldon and other Magdalo officials walked out of their trial and marched through the streets of Makati City, calling for the ouster of Arroyo. They then headed to The Peninsula Manila Hotel along Ayala Avenue in Makati City and seized its second floor; February 2006 Marine stand-off — The Philippines was placed under a state of emergency on February 24, 2006 after the government foiled an alleged coup d'état attempt; Arroyo lifted the state of emergency on March 3, 2006. No comment from Arroyo Arroyo, now the incumbent congresswoman of Pampanga, has yet to issue a comment on the issue of granting amnesty to mutineers who protested against her administration. In a text message to GMANews.TV, Len Bautista-Horn, Mrs Arroyo’s spokesperson and chief of staff, said they want to read the document first. Her son, Ang Galing Pinoy partylist Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, said while granting amnesty is a right and prerogative of the President, Congress should look into it further before concurring with it. “While a decision of a President to grant amnesty to someone who had a committed a crime should be respected, I believe this should be looked deeper before Congress concurs as the 2003 mutiny is no ordinary crime. It was a crime committed against the State," he said in a press statement. Mikey was bothered by the fact that the soldiers “who committed such a serious crime against the State, reneging on their sworn duty to protect the people and the country" are now just being given a tap on the back. “This could have a serious repercussion as it could result to demoralization among members of the military establishment particularly those who, in the whole duration of their tour of duty, had been loyal to the flag. Baka isipin nila na balewala naman pala sa gobyerno ang ganung uri ng krimen," he said. Mikey also expressed apprehension that Aquino’s act could embolden other members of the military establishment to embark on another military adventurism against the sitting administration knowing that they could be granted amnesty once another administration takes over. “That would set a very dangerous precedent. We could become a country where military adventurism could become a favorite past time," he said. Waiting for plenary discussion In a separate interview, Tañada said some of the lawmakers who did not sign the resolution have indicated that they would vote in favor of it once it is tackled in the plenary. Tañada who held a press conference with Magdalo members on Tuesday to discuss the resolution said he is yet to see the proclamation. “It would depend on what the president would proclaim. We would have to look into it, what the President have signed today and find out what it includes but it doesn’t necessarily mean that once they are given amnesty they are reinstated in the Armed Forces," Tañada said when asked about Aquino’s proclamation. As Aquino’s proclamation preceded the House resolution, the lawmaker said the next move of the House and the Senate is to have a concurrent resolution. Tanada, however, was not sure if they can pass the resolution before the session ends on October 15. “It will take time because we have to review the proclamation made by the President, we will have to file the concurrent resolution agreeing to such amnesty and then there will be a process that would be followed," he said. He added: “We will try to work on the concurrent resolution as fast as we can. If the Senate would agree to have something passed before Friday then we would do it but if we can’t work that fast we’ll have to comeback on first week of November to finish it." During the press conference, Lieutenant seniorgrade James Layug thanked the members of the Congress for trusting and supporting them. “In the seven years that passed, lot of things have changed. Kaya nga we are very grateful, ako nagpapasalamat ako sa tiwala at suporta ng mga miyembro ng Kongreso para bigyan kami ng pagkakataon na maka-move forward, pagkakataon mula sa society at sa buhay," he said. He said majority of those involved in the Oakwood mutiny and Fort Bonifacio standoff would like to move forward. “They felt that they already served, they already did their part, share nila ng pagmamahal sa bayan. And ngayon it’s time to move on, move forward, be with their families so yung amnesty at least mawala yung kaso naming lahat and for us to be able to move forward with a clean slate," he said. Tañada said some 300 to 500 soldiers are expected to be benefited from the amnesty and not only detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. “They have served their sentence and this is a process of moving on so we feel that if the government wants to address all lingering issues it should put closure on the specific issues like the Oakwood, Manila Peninsula, Marine standoff and it would also help all parties to move on," he said. He said the Magdalo soldier first approached him three weeks ago and he had been working on the signatures for almost two weeks. On the part of the House minority bloc, Zambales Rep. Ma Milagros Magsaysay said President Aquino was “playing politics to court the military." She expressed concern about the damages made to life and property during the said events. “Who will pay for that? What assurances do we have that this will not happen again? There should be accountability for actions taken. If it happens during PNoy’s administration, will he forgive them too?" Magsaysay asked. –VVP, GMANews.TV 
GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
