MEDIA TIMES

PHILIPPINE JOURNALISM REVIEW

Issue 2015

AMPATUAN
MASSACRE

CALL FOR
JUSTICE
CORRUPTION
UP CLOSE
MEDIA
MILESTONES

PHILIPPINE JOURNALISM REVIEW

Melinda Quintos de Jesus

Publisher and Editor in Chief
Luis V. Teodoro
PJR Reports Editor
Kathryn Roja G. Raymundo
Managing Editor
Melanie Y. Pinlac
John Reiner M. Antiquerra
Paul Dawnson M. Formaran
Penzer R. Baterna
Pauline Mie R. Rapanut
Staff Writers
Lara Q. de Jesus
Editorial Assistant
Carol M. Paragele
Editorial Secretary
Lito Ocampo
Photographer
Design Plus
Design and Layout

Melinda Quintos de Jesus

Luis V. Teodoro
Maria Isabel G. Ongpin
Tina Monzon Palma
Vergel O. Santos
Carlos H. Conde
Lorna Kalaw-Tirol
Board of Advisers

Media Times
Philippine Journalism Review
is published by the

All mail should be addressed to:

Media Times
Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility
2/F Ateneo Professional Schools Salcedo
130 H.V. dela Costa Street, Salcedo Village,
Makati City 1227 Philippines

Table
of Contents
5 PUBLISHERS NOTE
6 AMPATUAN MASSACRE
KEEPING ALIVE THE CALL FOR JUSTICE
11 IN FITS AND STARTS
YEAR FIVE OF THE TRIAL
14 2014
IMPUNITY IN CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS
18 CORRUPTION UP CLOSE
26 PRONE TO POLITICAL SPIN
32 REPORTING PDAF AND DAP
ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH INFORMATION
39 CELEBRITY SENATORS ARRESTED
42 MEDIA MILESTONES
82 REPORTING PEACE
WRITING THE FIRST DRAFT OF HISTORY
90 CRIME IN THE NEWS
95 AFTER YOLANDA
FOUR MONTHS OF RECOVERY
ONE YEAR OF REHABILITATION
104 HOW DID MEDIA BECOME INDEPENDENT?
(IN THE ADVERTISING SECTOR, THAT IS)
107 OUTDOOR ADVERTISING, WHERE TO?
HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE
118 PHILIPPINE MEDIA FACTS AND FIGURES

Cover
MEDIA TIMES Our
Enhanced photograph of
PhiliPPine Journalism review
issue 2015

Phones: (632) 894-1314/894-1326/840-0903 | (632) 840-0889 (Telefax)

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Media Times welcomes feedback and contributions
on press and media issues.
The publication of this issue is supported by a grant from the
National Endowment for Democracy and a partnership with
the Media Specialists Association of the Philippines.

AMPATUAN
MASSACRE

CALL FOR
JUSTICE
CORRUPTION
UP CLOSE

Copyright 2015 Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility. All rights reserved.
ISSN 2350-8264

MEDIA
MILESTONES

Editha Tiamzon, widow of

journalist Daniel Tiamzon,
during the Nov. 23, 2014
Million Candlelighting
Commemoration of
the 2009 Ampatuan
(Maguindanao) Massacre.
Photos by Lito Ocampo
and Cong Corrales

KEEPING
ALIVE THE
CALL FOR
JUSTICE

CORRUPTION
UP CLOSE

18

REPORTING
PDAF
AND DAP

32

HOW DID MEDIA

BECOME
INDEPENDENT

104

42

MEDIA
MILESTONES

82

REPORTING
PEACE

4 | MEDIA TIMES 2015 Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility

PUBLISHERS NOTE
MELINDA QUINTOS DE JESUS
News is a habit. Perhaps, it is more than just a habit,
expressing the belief that in the modern world, one
learns something important in the news; that it
provides much-needed guidance about how we should
think and deal with the perplexities of life.
Alain de Botton points this out in his latest book, The
News, but he questions the point of the habit given the
kind of news we get.
The title of the book presents it as A Users Manual.
In his words: What follows is an exercise in trying
to make this ubiquitous and familiar habit seem a lot
weirder and rather more hazardous than it does at
present.
Media Times echoes the same concern, as premised
by the programs of the Center for Media Freedom &
Responsibility (CMFR). News matters. The press
the corporations built on its business, along with the
persons who work in the news exercises power
and influence; and is accorded with some mythic and
unquestioned authority over public affairs and even
private lives.
But the importance of news requires also an
obligation to review the news process, which de
Botton proceeds to dissect.
CMFR has devoted itself to the monitoring of news,
as a way of submitting to examination and review
the process of news-gathering and its delivery to the
audience.
Media Times second volume is an exercise in hope,
as it reviews events and developments in the past
year through the prism of news. An annual report,
it expresses the expectation that readers who are
concerned about the impact of news on politics,
elections, culture and other aspects of national life
will turn to these pages and recognize its special niche
as a source of information, interpretation and insight
about the media in the Philippines.
In this case, the ambition is limited. Media Times
is not for a mass audience. Simply stated, the hope
is for the concept to connect with readers who at
the start of a new year need to mark the moments
and milestones just past and measure progress and
setbacks in the ongoing collective project of nationbuilding.
The press media, while claiming the values of
neutrality and disinterest, must prove staunch
advocates for the success of our democracy.
Media Times engages an audience on a social and
political level, with a tool for national assessment
that can be useful for both government and public,
so together they can discern the necessary lessons in
moving forward.
CMFRs information about the state of the Philippine
press the attacks and threats against press

News
matters. The
press the
corporations
built on its
business,
along with
the persons
who work
in the news
exercises
power and
influence; and
is accorded
with some
mythic and
unquestioned
authority over
public affairs
and even
private lives.

freedom, its monitor of newspapers, television news

and public affairs programs, and selected online news
sites are on digital platforms and social media. This
hard copy publication asserts an ongoing affinity for
the feel of ink on paper, the solidity of print and the
kind of journalism that sets periodicals and magazines
apart. The review is in-depth, the discussion of issues
comprehensive.
CMFR observed the 25th year of its founding in 2014
with a call to the public to list the media milestones of
this period. What events were turning points in the
development of media? What changes in society had
lasting impact on the way the press did its work? What
challenges caused the media to flounder or botch up its
coverage? What passages have made a difference on the
practice of the press in the Philippines? The responses
received make up the center section of the issue.
The review of 2014 reveals news sequels. 2013
and 2014 make a pair, joined by medias coverage of
corruption and disaster. The Million People March
in August 2013 against the abuse and misuse of pork
barrel funds led to the arrest and detention of the
primary suspect in the perpetration of plunder as well
as politicians she worked with. A Senate inquiry into
allegations of corruption in Makati City has drawn the
public to examine the conduct and character of the
political dynasty that has ruled it in the last 30 years.
The tragedy of the super-typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda
has forced the national community, including the
media, to learn from the experience of devastating
storms. In 2014, the country weathered some powerful
storms with fewer casualties. According to the BBC,
the Philippine program in disaster-preparedness has
proven effective and serves as a model for the world.
The fifth anniversary of the Ampatuan
(Maguindanao) Massacre was an occasion to
commemorate the lost lives, raising the call for justice
for the victims. A legal update of the trial notes the
decision of the Justice Secretary to take over the
supervision of the states panel of prosecutor. The
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court pledged to do all in
her power to help hasten the course of the trial as a
way of ending one of the conditions of impunity in the
killing of Filipino journalists.
The nations search for peace bore fruit in 2014.
But the struggle for lasting peace has only begun as
Congress studies the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.
With limited resources, the effort is hardly adequate
to the tasks at hand.But we hope that this small edition
will help promote a greater, more concerted effort
to help Filipinos deal with the challenge of news in
our lives; and to make demands of those in the news
business so the habit gains in purpose and makes a
difference in the way we live.
Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility 2015 MEDIA TIMES | 5

REPORTING PEACE

WRITING
T HE

FIRS T D R A F T
OF

HISTORY

BY JAKE SORIANO
PHOTOS BY LITO OCAMPO

82 | MEDIA TIMES 2015 Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility

rospects for peace in the Philippines

are rooted in medias res, in the
middle of things.
Nation-building moves on several fronts
and these stories continue, all works in
progress. Peace-making must succeed
beyond the documents that are crafted
as official agreements. For this to happen,
the words or terms must be understood
and accepted by the people who will
create the peace. To understand these
terms, Filipinos must understand also
how we have moved from armed conflict
not just on one but several fronts to
where we are now, with the promise of
peace coming to life again.
But which middle of things do we go
back to? Which field in the landscape of
peace efforts gives us the best perspective?
The middle of the epic struggle for land,
of the historic injustice which displaced
peoples from their ancestral lands, the
consequent conflicts and hostilities,
a struggle largely invisible to many
Filipinos, and one that could not have
come to light without the tragedy of the
Jabidah massacre, a story that now seems
just a dark and vague memory?
Or the twisted turn in the story when
the struggle for Moro liberation splintered
into two factions?
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF) broke away from the Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) in March 1984,
because of factionalism in the ranks and
differences among the leaders.
The creation of the Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in 1989,
maybe?
The endless consultations which gave
form to a region dedicated to peace; but
which gave greater cause for grievance,
continued fighting, killings, further
displacement, creating a place for what in
2012 President Benigno Aquino III called
a failed experiment of an autonomous
region?
Or October 2008, when the Philippine
Supreme Court voided the memorandum
of agreement on ancestral domain (MOAAD) between the Government of the
Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the
MILF?
Or a more recent middle, one still fresh
in the minds of Filipinos: the signing on

Oct. 15, 2012 of a framework agreement

to create a new entity, the Bangsamoro,
which would replace ARMM?
This signing has drawn universal praise
and is seen as a great leap in achieving
lasting peace in Mindanao. The jubilation
raised by the event was not unlike the
ARMM that also drew praise and raised
widespread expectations for achieving
lasting peace in Mindanao.
But we are still in unknown territory.
And there is much to suggest once again
that while the country is moving forward
toward peace, the steps forward must be
taken with care and sensitivity.
The draft Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL),
a crucial legislation that would dissolve
ARMM and replace it with a more selfreliant and more autonomous region, has
just been submitted to Congress.
But given deadlines have been missed.
Already, doubts have been raised,
grumblings and protests heard about
thorny issues, watered down provisions,
unwelcome revisions.
And so with regard to peace, we remain
in the middle of things, moving between
a past of failures and challenges, and a
future which while not dim beckons in
a haze. The Philippine media could help
clear the haze, but, alas, could also muddle
things further.
We ask, how well have the media done
the job of providing accurate and useful
information to better inform the public
about a difficult process, made precarious
by its complexity? How have media
helped the public understand the text and
appreciate the context?
If the media are tasked to provide
information and knowledge to help them
understand, then the current middle
of this story, the culmination of a long
negotiation, is probably one of the most
demanding assignments ever to be given
a journalist.
This question is of crucial urgency;
the debates in Congress will take time
and deserve sustained media attention.
But the outcome could take us to a new
threshold of peace; or it could banish
hopes for peace for another generation.
TEXTS AND CONTEXTS
Il ny a pas de hors-texte. Jacques Derrida

The French philosopher Derrida has

said, There is nothing outside the text, by
which he supposedly meant that the text
is a closed thing. History, social factors,
everything that is outside, meaning
context, do not matter.
What he really meant was, There is no
outside-text. In a sense, that everything
is context.
The imperative should be noted by the
Philippine media, especially in reporting
the complex issues of the governments
peace process and the events and
developments that affect these efforts.
There should always be context, and
this context must reflect the background
and history that gives meaning to an
event.

SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY

From January to July 2014, the Center
for Media Freedom & Responsibility
(CMFR) recorded more than 600 news
reports about peace from the three
major newspapers in the country: Manila
Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer and The
Philippine Star. These reports covered
issues of the peace negotiations between
the government and both the MILF and
the National Democratic Front (NDF) of
the Communist Party of the Philippines
(CPP).
A tenth of the total reports analyzed
were assigned to reporters from the
regions. The rest were divided into
reporters assigned to the Defense,
Malacaang and Congress beats.
The period monitored was a crucial one
in developments related to the creation
of the Bangsamoro entity. Significant
developments related to the New Peoples
Army (NPA) also happened within this
period.
The year opened with only one
remaining annex to be signed. This was
the annex on normalization, and it was
signed on January 25. Normalization
covers both the return to civilian life of
the MILF Bangsamoro Islamic Armed
Forces (BIAF) by laying down their arms,
and the rehabilitation of areas marred by
conflict.
Three other annexes were signed
before the normalization agreement: the
Annex on Transitional Arrangements and

Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility 2015 MEDIA TIMES | 83

Modalities on Feb. 28, 2013 which serves

as the guide to the establishment of the
Bangsamoro; the Annex on Revenue
Generation and Wealth Sharing on July 13,
2013; and the Annex on Power Sharing on
Dec. 8, 2013.
These four annexes, together with
the Framework Agreement on the
Bangsamoro signed on Oct. 15, 2012,
constitutes the Comprehensive and final
peace agreement.
By Feb. 8, 2014 the office of the
Bangsamoro Transition Commission
(BTC), the body tasked to draft the
BBL was inaugurated in Cotabato City.
The Comprehensive Agreement on the
Bangsamoro (CAB) between the GRP and
the MILF was signed on March 27. On
April 14, the BTC submitted its draft to
Malacaang.
On May 5, the Palace missed its selfimposed deadline to transmit its BBL

THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT

AND THE MORO ISLAMIC
LIBERATION FRONT SIGNED
THE BANGSAMORO PEACE
AGREEMENT ON OCT. 15, 2012.
SUPPORTERS GATHER IN
MENDIOLA, MANILA

84 | MEDIA TIMES 2015 Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility

draft to Congress. Congress adjourned on

June 11 without receiving the BBL draft.
Amid these, there were voices of
discontent, accusations of unacceptable
revisions, assurances that peace is still
on track. Aquino and Murad had another
private meeting in June in Hiroshima,
Japan to discuss the status of the BBL. Both
the government and the MILF refused to
disclose details of the meeting, but the
report No details bared in Aquino-Murad
meet (Inquirer, June 26) quotes Iqbal
saying: I am not very upbeat about the
chance of the GPH upholding the BBL we
crafted.
Congress resumed sessions on July 28,
the same day President Aquino delivered
his State of the Nation Address (SONA),
with the draft still being pieced together.
President Aquino made only a passing
reference to advancing a bill that is fair,
just, and acceptable to all.

An analysis of the CMFR database of

the reports, context-wise, yielded the
following results, shown on Table 1.
Using this data, Inquirer (68%) would
have the highest percentage of reports
presented in context, Star next (62%) and
Bulletin last (53%). Put differently, seven
out of ten Inquirer stories are reported
in context, providing readers the bigger
picture. Also notably present in Inquirer
reports are context pieces (What Went
Before, In The Know) prepared by its
Research team. These appeared beside
the papers reports on very significant
developments in the peace process, like
the CAB signing, and help situate the
event in its place in a succession of events.
The Inquirer and Star had several good
reports on Bangsamoro developments.
A special report by Ryan D. Rosauro,
Power-sharing central to Moro selfrule (Inquirer, March 28) belongs to
the best of the lot, providing readers
a comprehensive explanation on why
power sharing is crucial with the new
entity, and how this agreement makes
it different from the ARMM. The report
MNLF, MILF leaders to meet in Jeddah to
discuss peace deals with govt. (Star, June
6) by Roel Pareo is another standout
report, linking the recent agreement
with the earlier deal between the GRP
and the MNLF, and framing this issue on
broader issues such as the role of the
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC)
and the possibility of synchronizing the
MNLF and MILF peace deals with the GRP.
The relatively short report also managed
to link the present peace deal with the
Zamboanga siege in September 2013, an
event which is seen as stemming from
Nur Misuaris strong opposition to the
creation of the Bangsamoro.
Overall, the numbers above show
that more than half of peace reports are
reported in context. Is this a good figure?
To elaborate the answer, we must look
into the reports that did not in fact have
context. Those issues are what we should
be worrying about.
THE SPOILERS
A narrative is more easily understood if it
has conflict: meaning there are good guys
and bad guys, opposing teams. There is

TABLE 1. PERCENTAGE OF PEACE REPORTS THAT HAD CONTEXT

PAPER

PERCENTAGE OF STORIES
REPORTED WITH CONTEXT

Manila Bulletin

53% of 156 reports

Philippine Daily Inquirer

68% of 209 reports

The Philippine Star

62% of 276 reports

a term that has been constantly used to

refer to the bad guys who are perceived as
threats to the peace process: spoilers.
Dont let spoilers ruin peace process,
(February 11) read a report from the Star
quoting Presidential Adviser on the Peace
Process Teresita Deles. From the Inquirer,
P-Noy wary of Misuari, other peace
deal spoilers (January 27), which was
about government readiness to deal with
spoilers, and about the former MNLF chair
not being a spent force. Govt, MILF to
stop BIFF attacks, (January 29) reported
the Bulletin, painting the breakaway rebel
group as a common enemy for both panels
in the peace negotiations, and hence, a
spoiler.
Those on the other side of the table
also point to spoilers. On January 30, the
Inquirer quoted MILF panel chairman
Mohagher Iqbal as identifying another,

EVERYONE
INVOLVED IN THE
PEACE PROCESS
WAS POSITIVE
ABOUT THE
PROSPECTS FOR
PEACE.

and possibly the worst kind, of spoiler:

the proponents themselves. If the
government screws up, they are the worst
spoilers, if the MILF screws up, they are
the worst spoilers, the Inquirer quoted
Iqbal, who, the paper further reported
later toned down saying that any
disturbance in the Bangsamoro peace is
nearly impossible.
Everyone involved in the peace process
was positive about the prospects for
peace then. That is, until May, when
indeed a significant disturbance upset
the schedule for the Bangsamoro peace;
Malacaang failed to transmit to Congress
the draft of the BBL. From then on until
the end of July, reports in the mainstream
pointed to what could be a developing
mutual distrust between the government
and the MILF peace panels. The most
significant developments, however, were
only hinted at i.e., watered down
provisions,
unacceptable
revisions.
What was lacking in the mainstream
reports was a comprehensive report that
explained in full detail, precisely where
things really are in relation to both the
past and the future.
This is not an easy task, but clearly not
an impossible one, either, as proven by
Carolyn O. Arguillas of MindaNews. Taking
off from a July 24 meeting in Hiroshima
between President Aquino and MILF
Chair Murad, Arguillas captured the
precarious situation of the peace deal in
a four-part long-form narrative report
called Bangsamoro in Transition. The
details of the Aquino-Murad meeting
in Hiroshima were not disclosed to the
media, but Arguillas did not see the

Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility 2015 MEDIA TIMES | 85

need to speculate; she obtained the facts

from all the available sources: history,
statements published or unpublished,
expert opinion, concurrent events.
We understand the problem of the
disagreements on the draft of the BBL when
Arguillas placed the present situation
side-by-side the lessons from the past,
in particular, the flaws both legislative
and political that led to the failure of the
ARMM. Discussions and disagreements
on the watered down provisions of the
BBL matter a great deal because the very
essence of the new Bangsamoro political
entity rests on this law that would give
it life. These provisions are exactly what
would, or could, set it apart from its failed
predecessor, the ARMM.
But the past is not the only concern
for Arguillas. She peeked as well into the
future, and analyzed the significance of
the delay to the success (or failure) of the
transition to Bangsamoro.
Quoting MindaNews columnist Patricio
P. Diaz, who has been writing about the
Bangsamoro struggle and the peace

process since the 1960s, Arguillas very

clearly situated where, with regard to
peace, things exactly stood:
The election season starts in January
2016. The real proper transition
period ends in December 2015. If the
promulgation of the BBL is pushed to
the second quarter of 2015, that leaves
six months for the transition proper
starting with the creation of the BTA
and the appointment of its members to
administer the transition. What kind of
transition can be done in six months?
Diaz asked. Transition is life or death to
Bangsamoro. Properly done, its boom;
improperly, bust and doom! Time is most
crucial to transition, he said.
The series is a marvelous piece of
exploratory and explanatory journalism.
Journalists supposedly write the first
drafts of history, but first draft would
not seem to be the proper description
for the wide-ranging and open-ended
Bangsamoro in Transition.
Historians of the future would be
grateful to it for making their lives easier.

86 | MEDIA TIMES 2015 Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility

THE OTHER WAR

Going back to the mainstream media,
what brought the context percentage
down, in all three of the newspapers
CMFR analyzed, were reports about the
prospects for peace with regard to the
communist insurgency in the country
waged by the NPA of the CPP. Reports
about the CPP-NPA tended to focus only
on clashes, ambushes and explosions in
isolation and these events were presented
as if occurring outside of the broader
timeline of the still-ongoing communist
insurgency, and the on-again, off-again
peace negotiations of the NDF with the
GRP.
This is a significant omission on the part
of the Philippine media, because peace
issues are not restricted to the Moro quest
for self-determination. Numbers related to
this other war mark it as equally needing
a long-term solution, like solutions being
sought for Mindanao. Like the Moro
insurgency, the long-running communist
insurgency (the NPA celebrated their 45th
year this year) in the country has resulted

in tens of thousands of casualties and is

far from over. And neither side will win
militarily is how the International Crisis
Group describes the relationship between
the Philippine government and the NPA.
And yet most reports in the mainstream
about this other armed conflict has not
really been contextualized. The headlines
of the stories reveal all. On March 15,
Bulletin reported, Sorsogons top NPA
rebels nabbed. On May 21, from Inquirer,
2 suspected NPA rebels killed in Quezon
clash. On July 8, 8 members of NPAcontrolled group surrender in Star. As
if these were no different from street
crimes.
Surprisingly, the source most commonly
quoted in reports about peace is not
the Presidential Adviser on the Peace
Process, or the peace negotiators for
the parties involved in the talks. Table 2
shows that information from the military
is still the most cited. While accurate, this
information is not whole; the context is
elsewhere, the context is the before. There
have been peace talks, and suggestions
have been made to the effect that
negotiations could still happen. Clashes
and casualties, arrests and surrenders, all
occur within this broader scope of things.
The two major streams of armed conflict
in the country (which means two roads to
peace, one still rough and the other not
quite so), are not really difficult to link,
and circumstances this year, while we are
in the middle of things, have necessitated
their discussion together. Probably by
deliberate design (as President Aquino
had hinted that something big is about to
happen), the week of the signing of CAB
was the same week that alleged heads of
the CPP-NPA fell to government forces,
Benito and Wilma Tiamzon on March 22
and Andrea Rosal on March 27, the same
day as the signing. Add to that March 29,
when NPA celebrated the 45th anniversary
of its founding.
Television, a more urgent medium than
print, gives us insight into the differences
of these two modes of peace reporting.
24 Oras and TV Patrol, the evening
news shows of GMA-7 and ABS-CBN 2
respectively, both devoted airtime to
reports about Bangsamoro developments
and the CPP-NPA. Seventeen (17) out of

TABLE 2. TOP SOURCES OF PEACE REPORTS

FROM 641 ARTICLES ANALYZED

SOURCE

NUMBER OF REPORTS

Military

144

Teresita Deles

79

Miriam Coronel-Ferrer

67

Mohagher Iqbal

49

Noynoy Aquino

39

Ghadzali Jaafar

23

Murad Ebrahim

11

Alexander Padilla

Jose Maria Sison

Luis Jalandoni

129 24 Oras reports the week of March 23

to March 29 were about the CAB signing
and the arrests.
Reports about the latter outnumber
the former 10 to 7. For TV Patrol, there
were 22 peace reports from a total of
157 reports that week, or more than one
peace report for every ten reports, which
is almost the same percentage as 24 Oras.
NPA-related reports also outnumbered
Bangsamoro reports, 13 to 9.
The difference between these two
sets of reports is in the framing, and it
is surprising how both networks have
almost the same treatment of their peace
reports. Updates about the Bangsamoro
tended to lean towards the positive and
the hopeful, the exact opposite for the
latter. This optimism, however cautious,
has shaped Bangsamoro reports, the best
of the lot coming from Kara David and
RG Cruz, who both managed on March
27 to fit in just about three minutes the
history of the event and its possible
outcomes. The same is not the case with
reports about the CPP-NPA, where peace
prospects hardly figure, if at all, and
where the possibility of the same future

does not transcend the soundbyte.

One event which both programs
aired provides a crucial insight into the
difference between Bangsamoro reports
and CPP-NPA reports in the Philippine
media. The day of the CAB signing, March
27, a group of Moros were in Mendiola for
a peace rally, expressing their support for
this very hopeful development. Nearby,
a group of militants were protesting the
arrest of the Tiamzon couple for allegedly
being a violation of terms agreed upon
during peace negotiations. The two
groups met, and violence ensued. The
reports quote the Moros saying they were
gathering peacefully. The militants were
portrayed as the instigators of violence.
We end with this image, still in medias
res. This image, though seemingly
insignificant, has something of a poetic
element in it; it lets us see how, with
regard to peace, much has been achieved,
and even as there remains a long way to
go.
Jake Soriano is a freelance journalist.
He was formally with the news
research unit of GMA Network, Inc.

Center for Media Freedom & Responsibility 2015 MEDIA TIMES | 87

COMMUNITY PRESS

ERROR PASSED ON AND AMPLIFIED

By RYAN D. ROSAURO

he peace process between government and the Moro

Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has consistently been
in the news since the parties achieved a turnaround
in the negotiating table October 2012 through the landmark
Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
This bodes well for the Mindanao peace process; the greater
the media attention, the higher its chances of getting to the
top of the ladder of legislative priorities.
But the focus of media may also be a bane: factual and
contextual errors in reporting are immediately amplified,
quickly soiling the perception of vast numbers of people
about an issue. Such is the case about oft-repeated mistakes
in reporting about the Moro conflict and the peace process
between government and the MILF that continue to be
committed by the national media up to this day.
And the same are passed on to local and regional news
organizations usually radio and television which mostly
take their cue from the latter when reporting about the
Mindanao peace process. Through this chain of information
diffusion and the wide reach of radio and television, the
inaccuracy is immediately amplified.
The principal error passed in the process speaks volumes
about the resourcefulness or lack thereof in the local
newsrooms. Making national news organizations the chief
information sources about the peace process means these
local news outfits fail in the requirement to access information
directly from primary sources.
These primary sources include the Office of the Presidential
Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) through its website,
www.opapp.gov.ph, and the MILF which also maintains
the website www.luwaran.com. There are also a host of
nongovernment groups involved in peacebuilding.
The advent of online platforms and mobile connectivity
narrowed the gap in terms of ease in information access
between national, regional and local news organizations.
For context information, there are scores of books, sold at fair
prices, which may be available in libraries for ready reference.
The books by Salah Jubair, a ranking MILF official, provide
an insider look at the Moro revolution: the Bangsamoro: A
Nation Under Endless Tyranny and The Long Road to Peace.
Relying only on information from other media sets back the
ability of the community press to better understand national
issues. A strong background on the subject helps journalists
use information from primary sources and the opportunities
for interviewing officials when they are available.
Two of the oft-repeated errors in reporting about the
Mindanao peace process concerns timelines: when the MILF
was organized and when the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) was established.
INTERNAL SQUABBLES
In providing background and context to stories, the news
media continues to report that the MILF was organized after

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a split in the ranks of the Moro National Liberation Front

(MNLF) immediately after the 1996 Final Peace Agreement
(FPA) was inked.
This context is used to project the possibility that another
Moro rebel group could emerge because of dissatisfaction
with the terms of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law.
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) may be
perceived to embody this pattern of dissension and split
within the ranks of Moro rebel groups.
During the public hearing of the House of Representatives
ad hoc committee on the Bangsamoro Basic Law in Iligan City
last Nov. 28, 2014 a local official cited this pattern of dissension
and split after every signing of a peace agreement to argue
that the current peace process is just a waste of effort.
The local official said that following such pattern, there can
never be a chance for closure of the Moro rebellion as another
group always rises up every time another has agreed to come
to terms with government.
SO WHATS THE REAL SCORE?
Firstly, just like the revolutions in other parts of the world,
the Moro political struggle is not immune from leadership
squabbles.
The Moro revolution began under the banner of the MNLF
that was founded in 1968 with Nur Misuari as its chair.
On Dec. 26, 1977, Salamat Hashim led the ouster of Misuari
as MNLF chair for, among others, steering the Moro struggle
toward a Marxist-Maoist orientation and making its central
committee his own exclusive preserve, wrote Salah Jubair
in the book, Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny.
As Misuari held on to the post, Salamat set up the faction
called MNLF New Leadership to which the government, then,
dealt with. But the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) still recognized Misuari as its leader.
Since then, the OIC and the World Muslim League sought a
resolution to the matter, to no avail. Hence, by March 1984,
Salamats faction split from the MNLF and formed the MILF.
By Sept. 2, 1996, the MNLF signed the FPA with government
that provides for concrete measures to implement the broad
strokes of the peace accord they signed in Tripoli, Libya on
Dec. 23, 1976. This accord is known as the Tripoli Agreement
on Peace of 1976. The MILF did not subscribe to the FPA
formula. By January 1997, low level talks started between
government and the MILF.
In the case of Ustadz Ameril Umra Kato of the BIFF, the split
was not within the MILF, which is the political leadership, but
within the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF).
Kato had misgivings with the BIAF leadership. He broke
away but proposed to be recognized by the MILF central
committee as a separate army command because he remains
committed to the groups revolutionary ideals. The MILF
refused the request.
Kato began setting up his own base in an area within the

MILFs Camp Omar in January 2011 after breaking away from

the BIAF, the armed wing of the MILF. In December 2009, he
resigned as commander of the BIAFs 105th base command
covering the strategic areas around the Liguasan Marsh that
include towns in North Cotabato and Maguindanao.
There were other splits within the MNLF, most notable of
which was the creation of the so-called Council of 15 and
the MNLF-Islamic Command Council (ICC), all precipitated by
leadership questions, not by dissatisfaction over the terms of
the peace agreement.

ARMM PREDATES 1996 FPA

Another common error is the claim that the ARMM was
established as a result of the 1996 FPA. In reality, the ARMM
predates the said peace accord. Or that the Moro autonomy
experience predated the 1996 FPA by 19 years.
The Moro autonomy experience started in March 25, 1977
when strongman Ferdinand Marcos issued Proclamation
No. 1628 establishing the provisional government covering
13 provinces and nine cities in what was then known as the
Minsupala (for Mindanao, Sulu archipelago and Palawan).
Such geographic scope was defined as the area of autonomy
in the 1976 Tripoli Agreement that government and the MNLF
inked on Dec. 23, 1976.
In the plebiscite conducted on April 17, 1977 on the
autonomous government, the provinces of Davao del Sur,
South Cotabato and Palawan, and the cities of General
Santos and Puerto Princesa opted out. The plebiscite also
saw a rejection of the proposition of establishing only one
autonomous government.
Following the plebiscite results, two regional autonomous
governments (RAGs) were organized, one for Central
Mindanao and another for Western Mindanao. The first
elections were held in 1979.
When Marcos was deposed on Feb. 25, 1986, the
revolutionary government of Corazon Aquino sought but
failed to bring the two RAGs under one leadership. The postdictatorship Constitution that took effect Feb. 1, 1987 enabled
Congress to create the autonomous regions for the Moro and
Cordillera peoples.
By 1989, the Organic Act for the ARMM was put to a vote in
the area of autonomy defined by the 1976 agreement. Only
the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and TawiTawi ratified it, and became the territory of the ARMM.
The 1996 FPA provides for a process of reforming the
ARMM including expanding its territorial jurisdiction. Hence,
its original charter-Republic Act 6734 was amended by
Republic Act 9054. A plebiscite was held again in 2001 in the
localities cited in the 1976 Tripoli pact as area of autonomy, in
the hope of expanding the then four-province ARMM territory.
This resulted to the inclusion of Marawi City and Basilan
province.
The lack of adequate information in the news about the
Moro conflict has led to poor public understanding of the
context and roots of the four-decade Moro rebellion in
Mindanao. Peddling inaccurate information could be far
more dangerous.
Ryan D. Rosauro is a journalist based in Ozamiz
City. For the past 15 years, he has covered Mindanao
events and issues, especially the Moro conflict and the
peace negotiations of the government and the MILF.
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