Coverage of ARMM elections marginalized says poll watchdog

CMFR/Philippines – In one more indication of the media’s tendency not only to neglect positive developments in the region, but also to remain focused on Manila issues, the approaching elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have yet to receive national media attention.

Salic Ibrahim, chair of the Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reforms Inc. (Citizens CARE), told the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) in an interview last July 4 that conflict in Mindanao was more often reported than the on-going efforts to ensure peaceful and clean elections on Aug. 11.

“Since we began in 2005 (conducting voters’ education programs and election monitoring orientations), none of our efforts have been highlighted by the media,” Ibrahim said after speaking at the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) roundtable discussion on the ARMM elections in Quezon City.

Citizens CARE is composed of 25 ARMM-based non-government, civil society, and sectoral organizations that advocate electoral reforms that will strengthen the credibility of elections in Mindanao. Ibrahim was in Manila seeking accreditation with the Commission on Elections as poll watchdog for the coming elections.

NUJP chair Jose Torres Jr. said he invited Ibrahim to speak for his fellow Mindanaoans who lament the lack of media coverage of the ARMM elections. Torres said Ibrahim could provide insights on the prospects for the automation of elections in ARMM since he has worked closely with election stakeholders specially the voters.

“Many people in Mindanao, especially the communities in the ARMM, have felt that the national media failed to draw attention to their issues,” Torres said during the forum. “Any issues or stories (on Mindanao) that would get aired or published in Manila are often flawed.”

Previous monitors and content analyses by CMFR’s PJR Reports have consistently shown that reports on Mindanao would appear only when the stories are only conflict-related. During the abduction of Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi in June last year, PJR Reports noted in its November issue how “news about Mindanao appeared almost daily in the news pages and television news programs” and waned by September.

Ibrahim called for the media’s “wider participation” in election monitoring and in the voters’ education campaign to achieve credible elections in ARMM, which has had the negative perception of being the “cheating capital for elections” due to alleged vote-rigging, particularly in the 2004 elections.

“Electoral reform is everybody’s business including the candidates for public office themselves,” he said in the forum. “Our efforts would be useless (if the residents will not vote).”

Ibrahim said the elections must push through while there are groups who want the government to focus on signing the peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. He reasoned that the incumbent officials will also lose mandate to occupy their post when their three-year tenure ends this year.

The positions at stake are: Regional Governor; Regional Vice-Governor and 24 seats in the Regional Assemblymen position.

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