Celso: no to amnesty for ASG
Mayor Celso Lobregat the other day said members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), notorious for the series of kidnappings, bombings, beheadings, killing innocent people and other terrorist acts, do not deserve to be given reprieves or amnesty as suggested by some sectors.
“They are terrorists so how can you have peace talks with them?” the mayor replied to queries from media men covering City Hall.
He said the issue about granting amnesty and talking peace with the ASG first cropped up a long time when the government started initiating peace talks with rebel groups in Mindanao and Luzon.
“When peace talks with rebel groups started (a long time back), people were asking what about the Abu Sayyaf group?” the chief executive recounted.
Senator Richard Gordon, chair of the Philippine National Red Cross has proposed the granting of amnesty for the elderly Abu Sayyaf commanders, a day after Italian Eugenio Vagni, the last of 3 volunteers of the International Committee of the Red cross abducted in January, was released by the terrorist group in Jolo.
Gordon’s proposal drew flaks from various sectors not only in Manila but nationwide.
The ASG, suspected to have links with international terrorist groups, are responsible for atrocities committed in Mindanao including the Ipil siege few years ago, the kidnapping of foreigners at the Dos Palmas beach resort in Palawan and in Sipadan, Malaysia.
Meanwhile, the national government recently ruled out the possibility of granting amnesty to the ASG but declared that it is all out war against the terrorist group.
Under the law, amnesty is granted to groups or people who are fighting for political ideologies or beliefs. (Sheila Covarrubias)