Friday, August 08, 2008 Gallardo: Appeal for Peace Reporting By Froilan Gallardo
MINDANAO experienced a flurry of events in the past two weeks.
Emotions are running high following the announcement of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
There were those who rave for it and those who ranted against it.
Those who ranted were given bigger voices in the radio, TV and newspapers.
It is understandable since the rallies organized by these politicians are colorful and had huge attendance. They are news for us.
But what dismayed me is how many of these stories written with incomplete facts -- facts that could have cleared the initial confusion.
We drove into the story without the basic knowledge of what the MOA was all about.
We went directly to the color without looking to the meat of the story.
As a result, we became part of the confusion instead of providing the relevant information for people to be informed and decide.
Colleagues, we are journalists. "We are tasked to enlighten, not to add to the confusion or exacerbate an already very heated, very emotional issue. It is OUR obligation to KNOW what we are reporting on," as one of our colleagues said.
Here are some facts that were omitted:
* A plebiscite will be held a year after the signing (on or before August 2009 if MOA is signed in August).
* Another plebiscite will be held 25 years from the signing to ask residents of 1,459 villages the same thing. The MOA-AD initialed by the GRP and MILF last July 27 identified 735 villages under Category A and 1,459 villages under Category B.
These villages are predominantly Muslims who have signified their intention to join the BJE when the MILF made several consultations in the past two years.
These villages were not picked at random.
The plebiscites would have validated the MILF claims like the previous plebiscites that were held when the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was created by the Aquino administration, asking some Mindanao provinces if they will join the ARMM.
The results will be respected by both parties.
We also omitted that the protest rallies the other day were reminiscent of the similar protest actions when the administration of then President Fidel Ramos created the Southern Philippines Development Authority in concession to Chairman Nur Misuari and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Ramos was even pelted with tomatoes in one of the Mindanao cities.
When I covered those rallies in the mid-90s, I thought I will be seeing bloodshed between a polarized people but time healed the wounds.
Life went on in Mindanao especially after the people saw there was nothing to fear from the SPDA.
The worse part is when you "pit Christians against Muslims" in the controversy.
The other day, one network bannered Filipino Christians rally against Muslim Accord.
The other day, another story referred to an "Islamic insurgency." Why did a religious theme suddenly came to the story?
This is not a war between Christians and Muslims.
I was appalled when I read this because the insurgency is not about Islam but the right of the Bangsa Moro people for self-determination. It is an inalienable right under the statutes of the United Nations.
In the past two weeks, writers from Cebu and Manila suddenly became "experts of Mindanao."
My friends, no one can fully understand the magnitude of the problems in Mindanao. Even I who have covered the conflict for the past eight years cannot claim to be an expert.
But I did learn from reading the history of the Bangsa Moro people and the struggle of the MILF and the MNLF, not to judge them from a standpoint of a Filipino.
The fact is any liberation movement, the biggest groups of which are the MILF and the National Democratic Front (NDF) are revolutionary in nature. It means they believe they are not bound by the Constitution of the Philippines.
That is why we call them rebels in the first place.
So in any conflict resolution, each side must give in something to bring about peace.
That is the nature of negotiating with any revolutionary organization.
The dividend is just and lasting peace.
One thing more, study the history of the Bangsa Moro people when you come to cover or write about the Mindanao war.
Study the Tripoli Agreement between the MNLF and the GRP because all the subsequent peace talks are based from there.
The Moro people have never been vanquished by the Spanish and American colonial forces.
Neither were they under the Philippine government.
And for the first time in the Philippine post-colonial history, the Philippine government recognizes the Bangsa Moro people as a distinct people with a homeland they can govern for themselves when it agreed to initial the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain with the MILF.
The agreement is a major step of correcting a historical distortion and a trek towards the long road to peace in Mindanao.
Colleagues, we learned from our journalism schools about the dangers of stereotyping and dividing concerned parties into "camps."
I have yet to see a story on voices of reason from those who wanted peace in Mindanao.
Instead we are bombarded by stories of politicians who have a lot to lose in a new political order.
Colleagues, I am writing to you not as a Christian nor a Filipino but a journalist who yearns for peace in Mindanao.
I am tired of seeing babies die in evacuation centers.
I do not want to cover again old Moro folks, trying to salvage what is left of their human dignity, as they lined up for food donations from aid agencies.
Please do not exacerbate an already emotional issue.
Write, air and broadcast to enlighten, not add to the confusion.
You said you believe in truth, please breathe a soul to the idea.
