Ex-Abu Sayyaf members in Basilan seek amnesty
More than the cash, our dream is to receive an amnesty from the government
Wiril Muril Former Abu Sayyaf member
ISABELA CITY—Muril Baliong, 72, was ecstatic upon receiving on Friday a check for P65,000 as seed money to start his life as an ordinary civilian.
“This is my first time to receive this big amount after our surrender and I am planning to invest in a sari-sari store,” Baliong, a former Abu Sayyaf bandit, told the Inquirer, speaking in Yakan that was translated by one of his sons.
Baliong, along with 22 others, turned their back on banditry and surrendered to the government on Dec. 30, 2016.
The process of normalizing their lives will be complete if the government will grant them unconditional amnesty, said Wiril Muril, 37, one of Baliong’s sons who now acts as the group’s leader.
The 23 former bandits were the first from among the ranks of the Abu Sayyaf who responded to the government’s call for unconditional surrender, said Brig. Gen. Alvin Luzon, commander of the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade based in Basilan province.
Since then, Baliong recalled receiving food assistance from the local government and a promise of a housing unit for his family that has yet to materialize.
“So, until now we stay inside the military camp. We cannot even go back to our own place for fear of retaliation,” Baliong said.
On Friday, the 23 former bandits received their long-awaited financial assistance from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
BARMM Interior Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said each of the surrenderers would also be entitled to housing assistance amounting to P650,000.
Overstaying guests
Muril said they have been overstaying “guests” of the Army’s 64th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Barangay Tumahubong of Sumisip town.
“But we always make good of our stay there. We all studied under ALS (alternative learning system of the Department of Education) and we also help the military in their operation by providing real-time information,” Muril added.
However, despite being integrated gradually to mainstream society, Muril admitted that they still feel an unseen leash: “We cannot go out on our own [because] we don’t have any proof to show that we are clear [of accountability from past activities].”
“More than the cash, our dream is to receive an amnesty from the government,” Muril stressed.
He said he was envious of a number of surrendered bandits who can go out freely, some of whom even got elected into political offices.
“I, too, have plans to run in this coming barangay election [in October this year]. The monetary assistance is a great help for us to start anew but the amnesty will allow us to apply work outside our communities and to return to our village in Baiwas (of Sumisip),” Muril added.
Leah Tanodra-Armamento, chair of the National Amnesty Commission, explained on Friday that only rebels from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Moro National Liberation Front, Revolutionary Proletarian Army, and the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing New People’s Army and political arm, National Democratic Front, are qualified to avail of amnesty.
“Anything that is committed for political ends, the exemption are crimes of kidnapping [and] involvement in terrorism,” Armamento said of the offenses covered for amnesty.