Tag: NTF-ELCAC
This article, sent today by our Board Chair Emil Jonathan Soriano to Bishop Noel A. Pantoja, critically examines the participation of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) in the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). While the task force promotes a “whole-of-nation approach” to peace and development, its record of red-tagging and militarized posture has made it a controversial institution within the peacebuilding community. Drawing from field-based perspectives of peace practitioners, civil society critiques, and academic literature on faith-based peacebuilding, this essay analyzes the opportunities and risks inherent in PCEC’s engagement with NTF-ELCAC. The paper argues that while PCEC’s involvement presents a possibility for moral oversight and community engagement, it also carries the dangers of co-optation, erosion of prophetic distance, and complicity in harmful state practices. The analysis concludes by proposing conditions under which faith actors may engage state programs while safeguarding ethical commitments to human rights and civilian protection.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2025/12/church-state-and-counterinsurgency-a-critical-peacebuilding-analysis-of-pcecs-participation-in-ntf-elcac/
As part of our inclusive approach in peacebuilding, I and one of my Field Operations staff members, Arafat ‘Toto’ Balono, participated in a military-organized conversation on counterinsurgency, peace, and development in Davao Region. It was held last 24 January 2023, 0830-1300PHT, at the headquarters of the 10th Infantry Division (10ID) of the Philippine Army, Datu Balunto Hall, Camp General Manuel T Yan Sr., Barangay Tuboran, Municipality of Mawab, Province of Davao de Oro. We listened to the military reports and conversation between civil society leaders and Philippine Army officers. When given the chance, I shared our perspective on justice-based peacebuilding beyond the box of the counterinsurgency campaign of the military.
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2023/01/pbci-shared-justice-and-peace-concerns-of-civilians-at-the-armys-10th-infantry-division/
We join the Christians around the world in celebrating the Advent or Coming of Jesus. During the four Sundays preceding Christmas, we lit the candles on our Advent wreath. Hope. Love. Joy. Peace. Then on Christmas Day, we lit the Christ candle. For us, this progressive lighting of candles symbolizes our journey in Christ-centered peacebuilding. This expresses our sense of expectation. This is our witness and a declaration of the coming of the Prince of Peace – Jesus Christ!
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Permanent link to this article: https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/2020/12/for-us-the-advent-expresses-our-journey-in-christ-centered-peacebuilding/
