Media can help build peace in Mindanao

By Amirah Ali Lidasan, PJR Reports October-December 2012

PEACE, AT last. This was the sentiment of much of the public with the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB) last Oct. 15.

In the days that followed, we  witnessed a number of activities by Moro and Christian civil society groups celebrating the breakthrough and anticipating the formal signing  of the agreement by  the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panel heads Marvic Leonen and Mohagher Iqbal at Malacañang Palace, which was  witnessed by President Benigno Aquino III, MILF chairman  Ebrahim Murad and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib bin Abdul Razak.

The streets from Quiapo to Mendiola were filled with jubilant Moro women clad in hijab and abaya.  At historic Edsa,  women and youth groups jogged  with women soldiers.  A caravan  of employees from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Davao civil society groups  was met by the group in Mendiola.  And what probably sealed this weeklong celebration was MILF chairman Murad delivering a speech about peace witnessed by several MILF members who went with him to Malacanang, and the mujahideen and mujahidat (freedom fighters)  at Camp Darapanan shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) in response to Murad’s speech.

The festive and positive mood was at least partly due to the media.  Both before the signing and on the day itself, journalists were reporting the breakthrough and the positive views by different sectors of the population. Their interviews were focused more on the public acceptance of the signing rather than the details of the agreement. It was for me one of the few times when the media were reporting positively on the Moro people, in particular on the MILF.

The positive reporting, however, could gloss over the work that has still to be done to assure the peace as mandated by the FAB.  The media should help the public understand that the FAB signing is only the beginning of a long process of negotiations that should lead to the signing of a comprehensive agreement and the formation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Government. Also needed are follow-up reports on how the peace panels  discuss and probably debate the Annexes on wealth sharing, power sharing and normalization of the framework agreement.

Provide context

The media also need to help the public contextualize the protest of Nur Misuari, founding chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), over the FAB signing rather than simply dismissing it as sour graping.  There should be in-depth reports explaining what Misuari meant when he said the  Aquino administration had abrogated the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement (FPA) he signed with former Pres. Fidel Ramos in September 1996.  Back then, we thought that the FPA had finally ended the conflict in Mindanao, or resolved the Bangsa Moro problem.  Little did we know that the MNLF would still have to wrestle with succeeding administrations over the implementation of the provisions of the agreement.

Also worth looking into are the words of caution  from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) which also have revolutionary bases in Mindanao.  According to Luis Jalandoni, chairman of the NDFP peace panel, the present FAB is “heavily tilted towards the GPH and lessens the independence and autonomy of the Bangsamoro.”

The media should provide a forum in which opinions other than what’s popular could be heard. Reporters also need to reach out to other stakeholders in the peace process, particularly the victims of the conflict.

The FAB signing, for example, does not guarantee the withdrawal of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) units in the Moro communities. Neither does it guarantee that there will be no more military encounters on the ground. Although during the signing, MILF chairman Murad prayed that he hopes “never to see again refugee camps crammed with old folk, women, and children wallowing in squalor and misery, as well as never again  to witness the recurring wholesale violation of human rights that comes with oppression,” the FAB alone cannot  stop human rights violations. Hence, the media should pay close attention to the human rights situation and ceasefire violations and should report them when they do occur.

Military operations in Moro communities are in fact continuing, and not only in  reaction to attacks from the breakaway group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Force. Aquino did not lift his previous declaration of a state of lawlessness and emergency in Moro areas purportedly to arrest MILF lost command leaders, members of the Abu Sayyaf Group, and fugitives linked to the Ampatuan Massacre. The possibility of encounters thus remains. In the confusion, MILF forces as well as civilians could be involved either as combatants or victims.

Military operations have often led to violations of the Agreement on the General Cessation of Hostilities, the ceasefire agreement signed by the MILF and the Ramos administration in 1997. Only last year, the MILF accused the government of ceasefire violations when Aquino declared his so-called “All-Out Justice” campaign against MILF “lost commands.” Reporters need to be aware, and report violations of the FAB, given the long history of hostilities in the region.

The media should also report the impact of the presence of US troops in Mindanao and of  their military exercises on the Moro communities.  These troops’ “Rewards for Justice” program continues to be abused by the local police and military, whose units often arrest innocent civilians and charge them with crimes committed by the Abu Sayyaf  in exchange for US dollars. This is one aspect of the conflict in Mindanao that the major media organizations have not even mentioned.

Peace efforts from the ground should also be reported.  After the signing, the technical working groups of both panels are already conducting consultations with peace stakeholders. Other efforts include forums by different peace organizations,  and consultations with the grassroots and other non-Moro communities such as the Lumad and the Christians.

Impact on the people

The media can look at the impact of the framework agreement on such sectors as farmers, fishermen, vendors, workers, and overseas Filipino workers in Mindanao. The poor and less educated sectors may not have crafted the documents needed to create the Bangsamoro Autonomous Government, but their support will play a big part in generating the resources needed to sustain the autonomous government.  At present, the Moro people help contribute to the gross national product of the Philippine economy by producing the needed palay, corn, copra and sea products for our consumption and for export,  through dollar remittances from their work in the Middle East and other countries.

The Moro people are no different from the rest of the Filipino people. The majority, like their Christian and lumad brothers and sisters, are poor, landless and unemployed, but discrimination and lack of employment make their situation worse. The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) ranks  the ARMM  the second  poorest region in the Philippines. The economic policies of the Aquino administration are also forcing Moro farmers to leave their communities to pave  the way for mining companies and agricultural plantations.  The  agrarian reform program has not stopped land grabbing in the Moro communities. Instead it has favored already landed families such as the Ampatuan clan, enabling them to amass large tracks of land by forcing neighboring families to sell their land via the “voluntary offer to sell” program of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

There was a dearth in media reporting about Mindanao. What little there was focused mostly on violence. But the voices we hear today through the media are mostly those of the leaders of the MNLF, the MILF,  and the politicians.

Because of the difference in  cultural and religious practices, the Moro is often portrayed as “The Other”,  and often maligned as  violent and backward. I still hope that the media’s reporting and comment on  the Moro people will be more inclusive. I am hoping for more reports on the ordinary people who have the biggest stake in peace and development in Mindanao, and on the peace efforts of the community.

Reporters are often  limited to covering danger zones and have no access to the ordinary residents in the Moro communities.  Such organizations as the Suara Bangsamoro can help  introduce reporters to the communities so they can begin to abandon their penchant for attaching the word Muslim to describe terrorists, or even  drug dealers and plain criminals, and to instead foster understanding and unity among all Filipinos. The media can  help build the peace we Moro people in Mindanao have been struggling for.

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Amirah Ali Lidasan is the current spokesperson of Suara Bangsamoro (Voice of the Moro People) and secretary-general of the Moro-Christian People’s Alliance