Justice Assistant Secretary Atty. Mico Clavano yesterday said the implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and amnesty for former rebels can be implemented at the same time.

Clavano, who is also the spokesperson of the Department of Justice, said the two can go on simultaneously.

Clavano made the remarks during a virtual forum organized by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

The statement was made as the ATA is set to be fully implemented on 15 January after the Supreme Court approved the procedural rules on all petitions and applications concerning the law.

Clavano said, “I think the two are mutually exclusive. The current (decision to resume peace) talks (with the National Democratic Front)which have been opened up by the administration have nothing to do also with the implementation of the ATA, especially now that it has been fully operationalized by the operative fact that the SC issued the guidelines.”