‘We joined NTF-ELCAC to help the people’—CBCP exec

An executive of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines on Monday appealed to the public to be more "prudent" on issuing statements against the group's decision to join the Executive Committee of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

"We meant well sa aming engagement na ito. We're allowing ourselves to be a member of the NTF-ELCAC in good faith…Sa pagiging member namin dito sa NTF-ELCAC, we're provided with a platform for the betterment of the people in the country," said Rev. Cather Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs of the CBCP.

Fr. Secillano is also the alternate representative for Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista also from ECPA.

Speaking during the weekly TAGGED RELOADED press conference organized by the NTF-ELCAC Media Bureau, Secillano clarified that only the ECPA and "not the whole CBCP" would be the point of convergence for the Task Force because the commission's mandate is to deal with issues and concerns on public and private matters that affect the Church.

"We don't want to be myopic in joining the NTF-ELCAC…Sana magkaroon tayo ng bukas na kaisipan at malawak na pang-unawa. Nakita naman namin 'yung shift tulad ng development," he said, referring to the "paradigm shift" the government has been aggressively implementing in CTG-cleared barangays in far-flung areas through the flagship project, Barangay Development Pogram.

On the issue of the so-called "red-tagging" and alleged human rights violations by government units, Secillano pointed out that the ECPA's membership in the NTF-ELCAC will serve as an opportunity for closer dialogue.

"Everytime may red-tagging that also includes some of our priests and even bishops, we always reach out naman sa kanila at napapansin naman," Secillano admitted, adding he sees the venue as the proper forum to prod the government to always give paramount for the promotion and protection of human rights.

"We also would want in the ExeCom (to give importance) to human rights. Mahalaga po itong component na ito dahil kabahagi po sa adbokasya ng ating Simbahan," he emphasized.

For NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr., the CBCP-ECPA's membership in the Execom is a "blessing" that provides an enormous boost in finding peaceful solutions to put an end to the decades-old violence espoused by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front.

"We're blessed to have the CBCP," Torres said, adding that critics should "listen to the voice of reason rather than throw stones" at the task force and the CBCP.

Last week, the government announced the inclusion of the CBCP into the NTF-ELCAC Execom, a development that drew a slew of negative reactions from different groups, including the front organizations of the CPP-NPA-NDF like the so-called "Makabayan bloc" in Congress.

Torres further explained that there is nothing new about the "collective mission" of the Task Force and members of the CBCP when it comes to the government's programs on peace, unity and development in the country.