Pacific Point, San Jose, Tacloban City
March 14, 2025
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. led the oath-taking ceremony of the Local Amnesty Boards of Eastern Visayas during his visit to Tacloban City, Leyte.
In his brief remarks, the President said that today’s ceremony is a significant progress toward the peace efforts that the Administration is “building up and making better for the country.”
“And the prospect now that we have the Amnesty Board here, then there is now a mechanism that is in place for us to bring back into the fold of the law, into society, those who have opposed the State for a while, for a good long while, and to the point of adopting the principles of armed struggle. And this is why, this is necessary now for government and those former fighters to come together for the good of the country, for the good of the nation,” he emphasized.
The Chief Executive strongly believes that despite differences in political ideologies, efforts must be made to work through these differences and find an area of commonality and consensus from which both sides can discuss peace.
“You have been asking me to form this Board for quite a while and that’s finally happened. And I know that you are waiting to work very well and very hard to make sure that this peace process that we have embarked upon will continue. And now we are no longer just talking about it at a very high level, we are now actually putting on, making it work on the ground. So the, the success of our peace process really lies in the work that you will be doing,” President Marcos Jr. said in expressing his support for the newly appointed officials.
The Local Amnesty Boards conduct initial eligibility assessments and forward recommendations to the National Amnesty Commission (NAC) for amnesty applications of former rebels and insurgents, supporting their reintegration into mainstream society. This step is significant for achieving lasting peace in regions affected by insurgency.
The NAC has established Local Amnesty Boards throughout the country.
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