Religious seek release of NDF consultants

RELIGIOUS and faith-based groups on Wednesday urged the government to release consultants of the communist-led National Democratic Front (NDF) to pave way for the resumption of peace talks.

The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform composed of Roman Catholic Bishops from the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the Protestant-led National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP), the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches and the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF) told the government of their willingness to undertake a collective custodial guarantee if the government releases the detained consultants of the NDF.

“To affirm our commitment in support of the formal peace talks and to break the current impasse, we call on the government to release in recognizance under the collective custodial guarantee of the member churches of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, the NDF consultants who are willing to be under the sanctuary of churches,” the religious leaders said in a joint statement.

The peace platform group added:”This is our way of proclaiming the gospel of peace. We call on the GPH and the NDFP to consider this offer.”

Report from Allvoices