Departing from the usual

CHEERS TO two news programs for giving attention to those sectors often marginalized by the media, and for airing a digestible backgrounder on the Moro struggle.

June 16 marked the implementation of the first phase of the decommissioning of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces as agreed upon in the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which was signed by the government and the MILF on March 27, 2014. The “symbolic” decommissioning was held in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, which saw the decommissioning of 145 MILF combatants and 75 high-powered weapons.

ABS-CBN 2’s Bandila aired a report in the evening of the same day which focused on the hopes of the wives of decommissioned MILF combatants—stakeholders whose situation is often underreported by the media. It also reported on the positive response of religious groups in Lanao to the decommissioning event. (“What families of MILF fighters pray for,” Bandila, June 16, 2015)

Although short, the story was a welcome departure from the usual reporting of the media that focuses on prominent personalities, this time by reporting solely on the speeches of President Aquino, MILF chairperson Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, and MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal, as well as on angles they presume will sell, this time evident in a focus on the inspection of the firearms turned over by the MILF.

TV5’s Aksyon Tonite, on the other hand, in its EDiTORYAL segment, aired a historical backgrounder on the Moro struggle. The report explained how the arrival of the colonial powers in the Philippines—the Spaniards and the Americans—as well as the laws imposed by these colonizers, greatly affected the Moro people. These circumstances later led to land issues and loss of rights, which partly drove the Moro armed struggle. The report gave much needed information for viewers to better understand the importance of continuing with the peace agreement, as well as for them to be able to understand the plight of our Moro countrymen who have been suffering inequality and abject poverty for the longest time.  (“Lupa, ugat ng pakikibaka ng mga Moro,” Aksyon Tonite, June 17, 2015)

The segment was shown immediately after Aksyon Tonite’s report on the decommissioning ceremony.