NTF-Elcac open to church's suggestions – Año

From the Manila Times (Sep 3, 2023): NTF-Elcac open to church's suggestions – Año (By Franco Jose C. Baroña and Claire Bernadette Mondares)

(UPDATE) NATIONAL Security Adviser Eduardo Año said on Saturday that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) will be receptive to suggestions from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on how to address the issue of communist insurgency in the country.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Año. File Photo

"We welcome the CBCP through its Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs (ECPA) to the NTF-Elcac Executive Committee, and we look forward to working with them in pursuing peace and development in all parts of the country, especially in conflict-affected areas," Año said.

"For more than 50 years, we have lived under the scourge of the communist armed conflict. With peace now in sight, the Church has an important role to play in ensuring peace and development in the long term," he added.

Meanwhile, CBCP President and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David clarified that it was not the entire CBCP as a conference that joined NTF-Elcac but rather just one of its 31 departments — the ECPA.

"It's not exactly CBCP as a conference, but the Episcopal Commission of Public Affairs that is there as a private sector representative," said David in a statement.

"As such, this Commission has access to the NTF-Elcac ExeCom and more opportunity to express the Church's specific concerns, since its mandate is to act as a liaison of the CBCP to the public and private sectors, and to advance some of the social concerns and issues of the Church," David added.

ECPA Executive Secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano attended the NTF-Elcac's meeting on Thursday presided by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang.

Año said he sees the CBCP making significant contributions in the development of areas previously under the influence of the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, as well as facilitating societal inclusivity in pursuit of peace.

With 19 guerilla fronts weakened out of 20 remaining guerilla fronts in the country, Año predicts the end of the NPA under the current administration.

 "Given that we are now on the road to total victory, it's necessary that we recalibrate the way we do things, and the entry of the CBCP to NTF-Elcac is one of the changes we implemented," he said.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/09/03/news/national/ntf-elcac-open-to-churchs-suggestions-ao/1908206