EDITORIAL — The conference and the task force

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has changed its mind about joining the executive panel of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the agency that’s supposed to help rebel returnees reintegrate into society and to aid and improve communities formerly under rebel influence.

“Our engagement remains, but we are no longer in the execom... It’s better that we preserve our independence, if we are actually going to engage with them,” Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP Commission on Public Affairs, said in a Rappler news report.

Our feelings are a mixed bag on this one. On one hand it’s a good development because the CBCP, the organization that promotes the spirit of solidarity in the Philippine Church and formulates pastoral policies and programs, cannot afford to get its hands sullied by joining such a notorious task force with a reputation in tatters.

We say this task force has a bad rep because more than actually accomplishing anything worthwhile --and this despite the gargantuan budget it has-- the task is more known for releasing controversial statements and making a fool of itself red-tagging activists, lawyers, judges, actors, and even priests and government employees just doing their job, pursuing their advocacies, or expressing their personal opinions.

On the other hand, CBCP’s backing out also a bad development because, as we said in a previous editorial, the CBCP’s influence might have gone as far as to rein in the “fiery passions” of those in the task force. Fiery passions that often lead them to see enemies where there really aren’t any and make statements that aren’t fully thought through.

Not that we can tell them what to do, but the CBCP should still find a way to somehow positively influence the task force. Because while the task force wields quite a lot in the way of power and influence, NTF-ELCAC lacks greatly when it comes to guidance and restraint.