Mr Mervin Toquero, Deputy General Secretary of National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) visited Sydney on Monday 4 May to visit long-standing partner Act for Peace, international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA).
Andrew Hassett welcomed Mervin Toquero saying, “We are proud to partner with organisations like NCCP, protecting vulnerable communities from conflict and climate-induced displacement, through disaster risk reduction.”
Mervin Toquero spoke of the Participatory Action Project supported by Act for Peace where different churches have come together to coordinate opening their spaces at times of disaster. “Disability inclusion in planning and designing access for disaster preparedness and recovery was a particular strength of the project,” he said.
In discussions with Act for Peace CEO, Andrew Hassett and the NCCA General Secretary, Liz Stone, the new international network of peace was discussed with Toquero of NCCP. This was launched by the World Council of Churches at their Executive Meeting in November 2025.
As part of the initial establishment of the International Network of Peace, Toquero is currently steering the Global Ecumenical Forum for Just Peace in The Philippines into joining up with ecumenical forums in Asia-Pacific region to work in mutual solidarity for peace in Korea and Taiwan.