Diocese official: Military is not the solution to the insurgency problem

Negros church leaders recently entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) by forming the Church-Military-Police (CMP) Forum. The assembly will serve as an institutional platform for dialogue on the island.
The group was modeled after the Church-Military-Police Advisory Group, which was formed in 2018 to serve as a venue for cooperation between local dioceses, AFP, and PNP.
Philippine Army 3rd Infantry Division commander, Major General Dinoh Dolina, said the move will bring a more amiable relationship between the church, military, and police.
“Military leadership is really serious in our mandate to facilitate peace in Negros,” he said. “In every undertaking that we do, as what I have learned in my childhood days, we always invoke the presence of God.”
In addition, Police Regional Office-6 director, Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, said the organization will help in the law enforcement campaign and public safety.
Meanwhile, Diocese of Bacolod Social Action Center head, Rev. Fr. Chris Gonzales, speaking on behalf of the CMP Forum, said, “Military is not the solution to [the] decades-old insurgency problem in Negros.”
He went on to call for cooperation from all sectors.
Also present for the signing were Diocese of Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon; Diocese of San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza; Diocese of Kabankalan Bishop Louie Galbines; Military Ordinariate of the Philippines Bishop Oscar Jaime Florencio; 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, Brigadier General Benedict Arevalo; 302nd Infantry Brigade commander, Brigadier General Ignacio Madriaga; Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office director, Police Colonel Romeo Baleros;  Bacolod City Police Office director, Police Colonel Henry Biñas; among others./DGB, WDJ