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Project and media’s role in forging peace in Mindanao discussed in live radio November 14 PDF Print E-mail
Posted Saturday, 22 November 2008

 

ImageThe Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project featured in a live radio discussion on the role of the media in pursuing and shaping peace in Mindanao on November 14.

 

GMA Network’s radio dzBB, through its one-hour program One on One with Igan with anchors Arnold Clavio and Lala Roque featured Alan Davis and Rorie Fajardo, project director and project coordinator, respectively, of the Philippine Human Rights Reporting Project. Davis is also special projects director of the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting.

 

The discussion came at a time when government’s peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is in a seeming impasse following the Supreme Court’s October 14 decision declaring the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) unconstitutional.

 

When asked to assess media coverage of the conflict between the MILF and the government that heightened in August, Davis said the general sense was that media has improved in comparison to previous years.

 

Image“The general sense is that the media is doing a better job. But still there are a lot of commentators providing more opinion than news. They are urging all-out war than peace, using the media as political platform,” Davis said.

 

Fajardo said that in media dialogues conducted by the Project and its partners in Manila and Mindanao since August, communities complained of bias, inaccuracy and sensationalism in media reports which further inflamed the situation.

 

Fajardo said these problems were rampant among radio reporters, who remain the main sources of news and opinion in the provinces. She recalled civilians’ complaints of inaccurate radio reporting during the September 8 attack of MILF renegade commanders in Lanao Del Norte that further led to hysteria and massive evacuation.

 

When asked on the possible role of media in forging peace in Mindanao, Davis said many opposed the MOA-AD because the government and even the MILF reportedly lacked community consultations. The Supreme Court in its decision also said the government committed “grave abuse of conduct” when it failed to hold public consultations on the MOA-AD, the last of three agenda items (the other are security and relief and rehabilitation) before a political settlement with the MILF is discussed.

 

“If you want a lasting and effective peace, you must consult with the people. We’re looking at how we can involve the media around this time in forging a new and sustainable peace in Mindanao,” Davis said.

 

Fajardo urged fellow journalists to always remember their basic duties to their society in doing their jobs – providing accurate and balanced reporting and in effect helping the people decide correctly on issues affecting them.

 

Davis said much remains to be done in improving reporting on human rights and peace in Mindanao. Media should link issues such as transparency, governance and elections to understand the causes of poverty, conflicts and the crises they cover, he said.

 

Listen to the One on One with Igan discussion here:

 

 
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