MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
[ Proclamation No. 724, May 17, 1996 ]
AMENDING PROCLAMATION NO. 347 DATED MARCH 25, 1995
WHEREAS, on March 25, 1994, President FIDEL V. RAMOS issued Proclamation No. 347 entitled “Granting Amnesty to Rebels, Insurgents, and All Other Persons Who Have or May Have Committed Crimes Against Public Order, Other Crimes Committed in Furtherance of Political Ends, and Violations of the Articles of War, and Creating a National Amnesty Commission,” which was concurred in by both Houses of Congress on June 2, 1994 through Concurrent Resolution No. 12 as provided for by the Constitution;
WHEREAS, when the prescribed period for filing of applications for amnesty lapsed on June 1, 1995, 7,166 applications were recorded to have been filed with the National Amnesty Commission and the nineteen (19) Local Amnesty Boards nationwide;
WHEREAS, after June 1, 1995, the National Amnesty Commission and its nineteen (19) Local Amnesty Boards throughout the country have reported that many other rebels and insurgents voluntarily returned to the folds of the law and filed applications for amnesty or otherwise expressed their desire to avail of amnesty;
WHEREAS, in the course of processing amnesty applications, the National Amnesty Commission has been constrained to deny amnesty to persons who were found to have committed acts/crimes clearly in pursuit of their political belief because their acts/crimes were committed after April 30, 1994 but before June 1, 1995, which is beyond the period of coverage of Proclamation No. 347; or because they filed their applications beyond the deadline of June 1, 1995;
WHEREAS, the sincere desire of the foregoing rebels and insurgents to return to the folds of the law cannot be ignored by the Government if it is to pursue a true, comprehensive, just, and lasting peace;
WHEREAS, by virtue of the General Agreement for Peace dated October 13, 1995 signed between the Government and the RAM-SFP-YOU, Proclamation No. 723 was issued granting amnesty to members and supporters of the RAM-SFP-YOU and allowing those inadvertently omitted from the said list to apply individually for amnesty;
WHEREAS, in the interest of equity and justice, members of rebel groups other than the RAM-SFP-YOU should also be entitled to file applications for amnesty after the lapse of the period for application under Proclamation No. 347;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FIDEL V. RAMOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by Section 19, Article VII of the Constitution, do hereby declare and proclaim:
Section 1. Grant of Amnesty under Proclamation No. 347. Section 1 of Proclamation No. 347 is hereby amended as follows:
“Section 1. Grant of Amnesty.- Amnesty is hereby granted to all persons who shall apply therefor and who have or may have committed crimes, on or before June 1, 1995, in pursuit of their political beliefs, whether punishable under the Revised Penal Code or special laws, including but not limited to the following: rebellion or insurrection; coup detat; conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion, insurrection, or coup detat; disloyalty of public officers or employees; inciting to rebellion or insurrection; sedition; conspiracy to commit sedition; inciting to sedition; illegal assembly; illegal association; direct assault; indirect assault; resistance and disobedience to a person in authority or agents of such person; tumults and other disturbances of public order; unlawful use of means of publication and unlawful utterances; alarms and scandals; illegal possession of firearms, ammunitions, and explosives, committed in furtherance of, incident to, or in connection with the crimes of rebellion and insurrection; and violations of Articles 59 (desertion), 62 (absence without leave), 67 (mutiny or sedition), 68 (failure to suppress mutiny or sedition), 94 (various crimes), 96 ( conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman), and 97 (general article) of the Articles of War; Provided, That the amnesty shall not cover crimes against chastity and other crimes for personal ends.”
Section 2. Re-opening of Application Period. Applications for the grant of amnesty under Proclamation No. 347 dated March 25, 1994, as amended by this Proclamation, shall be filed with the National Amnesty Commission within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Proclamation.
Section 3. Effectivity. This Proclamation shall take effect upon the concurrence by a majority of all Members of Congress.1aшphi1
DONE in the City of Manila this 17th day of May in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-Six.
(Sgd.) FIDEL V. RAMOS
By the President:
(Sgd.) RUBEN D. TORRES
Executive Secretary
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