Monday, July 30, 2007 MILF, BUC call for responsible journalism, slam report By Ben O. Tesiorna
THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Bishop-Ulama Conference (BUC) separately called for a more responsible journalism in reporting developments in the Basilan conflict so as not to worsen the already tense situation there.
The calls came amid a report published by the Philippine Star last July 28 saying "the BUC has given the go signal for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to impose punitive action against the MILF rebels who were involved in the Basilan incident."
In a press statement, the BUC denied ever giving approval to the military's punitive actions against the MILF, saying it is not in the position to do so.
The BUC said the private caucus hosted by Archbishop Fernando Capalla with seven Catholic bishops from Mindanao and officials from the military is not an official BUC meeting.
"It was merely a group of Mindanao Catholic bishops who wanted to know the real situation in Basilan out of their pastoral concern for the Church in Mindanao. The term punitive action never came out of the dialogue," the BUC stated.
Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF committee on information, appealed to members of the media to help ease the situation between the government and MILF, after the peace panels and ceasefire committees of the two parties agreed to send a joint investigating team to Basilan to determine who were responsible for the beheading of the Marines and the Muslim imam.
Musa particularly called on the publishers and editors of the Manila-based Daily Tribune and Philippine Star to refrain from sensationalizing the Basilan situation.
Musa said the BUC deserves an apology from the Philippine Star for its "false report."
