Duterte okays amnesty plan

President Rodrigo Duterte (pic) has approved an amnesty programme for Muslim and communist rebels who would agree to surrender their weapons as they return to normal life, in the latest such attempt to tame rural insurgencies that have raged for half a century.

Thousands of guerrillas belonging to two large Muslim groups in the country’s south and a communist rebel faction could apply for the amnesty within a year after it gets approved by Congress, according to the president’s signed orders made public late on Tuesday.