CBCP now has reps in NTF-ELCAC, official says

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) now has representatives in the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, an official from the NTF-ELCAC has said.

Executive Director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres said the representatives would be Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista and his alternate would be Father Jerome Secillano.

"We are really very glad that when we first approached the CBCP leadership, we were accepted warmly. Hindi po tayo nagkaroon ng problema [we didn't have any problem] with them. In fact, they readily accepted to cooperate with us," Torres said at a briefing on Thursday afternoon.

"We are a very religious country, so if I’m not mistaken, more than 80% of our population is Catholic or Christian, so the organization could be felt down to the barangays and even sitios. So they are organized as such, so with them on our side, it would be a lot easier for us to disseminate, to cascade the information, the good news of the government to those living in far flung areas,” Torres added.

According to Torres, the NTF-ELCAC explained to the CBCP its role of harmonizing different efforts of the government and other partner stakeholders in ending local armed conflict in the country.

Following this development, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. reminded the CBCP of the limits of any engagement with the NTF-ELCAC.

"While we believe that the CBCP has by and large stood for basic human rights especially against red-tagging and extrajudicial killings, joining the NTF ELCAC sends the wrong message to the public," Reyes said in a statement.

"The CBCP may be used to deodorize the counter-insurgency task force amid a long list of abuses and violations attributed to it," he added.

He also urged the CBCP to study the National Security Policy of the Marcos administration "where the policy of red-tagging is further entrenched and sham localized peace talks are upheld instead of serious peace negotiations that seek to address the roots of the armed conflict." — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA Integrated News