EDITORIAL - A strange union

In a move that surprised many, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said one of its panels has joined the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

“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 CBCP spokesman Rev. Father Jerome Secillano.

This combination cannot be more strange. One is an organization that promotes the spirit of solidarity in the Philippine Church and formulates pastoral policies and programs, the other is a task force that is supposed to help rebel returnees reintegrate into society and to aid and improve communities formerly under rebel influence. However, more than anything else, the task force is known for red-tagging; calling people enemies of the state and communist sympathizers --whether rightly or wrongly, and usually wrongly.

Lawyers, judges, government officials, social activists, actresses, and even prelates and Church officials were red-tagged for defending clients, making court decisions, expressing differing views, or pursuing advocacies and causes that didn’t agree with the task force. Many of them suffered stigma because of the tag, some even received threats to their lives. It is justified to say that lives were ruined because of this.

But lately the NTF-ELCAC did announce that it was shifting policy from being aggressive to being “bringers of peace”, whatever that means. Perhaps that shift led to CBCP’s admission into the task force.

We hope that the CBCP isn’t just joining NTF-ELCAC to dialogue with them only when prelates and Church officials are red-tagged. This should also extend to those who aren’t prelates or Church officials but are red-tagged willy-nilly.

In fact there may be no more need for red tagging. With any luck the presence of a CBCP panel in the task force may actually moderate its volatile temper and make it more circumspect before calling anyone an enemy of the state or a communist sympathizer. If the NTF-ELCAC really means what it says in changing for the better, then this latest development deserves watching.