Live with the masses.

The challenge came from priest-turned-rebel Frank Fernandez, who claims to be the spokesperson of the National Democratic Front-Negros, and is addressed to Roman Catholic priests in Negros.

Fernandez enjoined his former colleagues in the priesthood not to live in the comfort of the convent, but with the ordinary masses, in response to the call of Pope Benedict.

Some priests, who are actively involved in the Church-Military-Police Advisory Group, got the ire of Fernandez, for allegedly collaborating with the state security forces in the “Oplan Bayanihan” campaign.

They should expose corruption among their ranks and in the government, Fernandez, said in a statement issued by the NDF-Negros.

“It is now the time to return to the former progressive stand of the Church to pursue the interest of ordinary masses, especially those in the farmer and labor sectors”, he added.

In 2008, CMPAG–Negros was created through a memorandum of understanding between the Dioceses of Bacolod, Kabankalan, San Carlos and Dumaguete and the Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade, to promote human dignity and sustain peace and development in Negros Island.

A previous statement issued by NDF-Negros, it has condemned the “active participation” of some priests who are members of the CMPAG in counter-revolutionary activities.

It claimed that these priests allowed themselves to be part of the “black propaganda machinery” of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.*GPB

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