Friday, August 17, 2007 MILF hails Lagdameo's bid to stop using religious tags on Moro rebels
THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) expressed their appreciation to Davao del Norte Representative Anton F. Lagdameo for his call to stop using religious affiliation as tag to characterize secessionist groups in Mindanao.
Khaled Musa, deputy chairman of the MILF Committee on Information, said in a report by Luwaran.com that Lagdameo is a rare breed in Congress whom the MILF said is composed mainly of people who wanted to settle the Mindanao problem through the use of force.
"This is a simple gesture but means a lot of difference in our life," Musa said.
Lagdameo made the call as reaction to several local and international news reports calling the MILF and the MNLF as "Muslim rebels."
"We already know that the members of the MILF and MNLF are Muslims, but must media constantly harp on this fact? This practice plays on the religious aspect of the conflict and makes it harder for those involved in the community to find a solution," Lagdameo said.
The neophyte congressman added that the conflict in Mindanao originated more "from the numerous social, economic and political problems in the country rather than those imagined religious overtones that some media people insist in playing up."
"Mindanao has so much to offer and if we just focus on building on these potentials I am sure we can settle this conflict once and for all. What all Mindanaoans want is just to be able to have the opportunity to live in peace and be productive within our own community. We hope that the media can be our partner in this cause," Lagdameo said.
A Mindanao-based multi-sectoral peace advocacy group, Center for Just Peace, also concurred with Lagdameo's statement with a hope that from now on the media will start looking at the Mindanao conflict on the socio-economic and political aspect instead of injecting religion which will only make things worse.
