Last
December 11, 2013, a forum was held in the College of Mass Communication
Auditorium. It is entitled "The Zamboanga City Crisis: Reconciling a
Divided Community." The speaker Ms. Amina Rasul-Bernardo, president of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy, presented a
brief background of the issue, how it has reached to the present situation, and
the important role of the media in this struggle. Here is the brief summary of
the presentation:
Zamboanga
Crisis
There
has been a three-week siege in Zamboanga City last Semptember 8-29. This has
resulted to a total of 120,000 refugees, 10,000 burned houses, and 760 million
peso-infrastructure damage.
On
September 26, a roundtable discussion was held to review the 1996 peace
agreement between the MNLF and the Philippine government. Aside from the review
of the previous agreement, there are other points that were raised in the
session such as the complementation and convergence of the MNLF and MILF peace process,
determination of accountability, peace-building, and organization of more
roundtable sessions with the media owners, editors, and news producers.
History
of the Bangsamoro Struggle
In
the 13th century, Islam arrived in Sulu with the Sultanate system (first
political institution), Madrasah (education), and Sharia'h (judicial system).
During the 16th century, the Spaniards had treaties with Mindanao region which
means that they recognize them as an independent state. Another set of treaties
were made during the American Regime in the 19th century, still recognizing
their independence. The conflict just started in the declaration of Philippine
independence when the Mindanao region was illegally
annexed to the whole Philippines. The region then became the most conflict
affected and poorest region. Some sets of data were presented showing large
discrepancies on the percentages of the services provided by the government in
the region compared to the others.
In
March 18, 1968, the Jabidah Massacre occurred and at least 28 Moro army
recruits were killed. This injustice gave birth to the Moro National Liberation
Front under Nurallaji Misuari. Few years after, Misuari signed a peace
agreement with the Philippine Government on September 2, 1996. This peace
agreement resulted to "ARMM" with Misuari as the chairman, but due to
alleged actions against the agreement, an armed conflict between the MNLF and
the Philippine government occurred on November 19, 2001. On the other hand,
another group was formed and was called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Elements
of Struggle
The
main cause of the struggle is the misconception regarding the Bangsamoro
people. They have always been a victim of misinformation and discrimination
from the mainstream media. This has resulted to marginalization.
Challenges
to Rebuilding Zamboanga
1.
Protecting the most vulnerable. There would always be civilians who would be
affected by all the conflict in the area.
2.
Unifying the community. The term "community" encompasses the whole
country. We must help in reducing discrimination, and it could help in
diffusing tensions.
3.
Funding the rehabilitation. There would be a wide range of possible sources of
funds from the Islamic countries to the gender and development budget.
4.
Preventing another crisis
The
Role of the Media
1.
Providing balanced reports
2.
Tireless coverage of developments
3.
Inspiring national unity and involvement
4.
Promoting religious tolerance and cultural sensitivity
Through this forum,
the point of view of the Bangsamoro people has been heard, and the power of the media
has once again been reinstated. There have been many bad comments on how the
media can manipulate the information from interviews, and this issue is an
addition to that. Based on theories on popular culture, compliance to existing
standards is a must to enter the mainstream media; I believe this is one reason
why no one even bothered to actually report or at least explain the whole story
of this issue through the mainstream media. Our country is divided in many ways,
and it would never be united if we always act like this. It is good that we
alarm the government of the bad things that we wanted them to change, but we
should also complement the government's good deeds. Good communication is
always the key, but sadly each one of us always think about ourselves. A small
simple steps, such as information dissemination through social media might
help, but what we really need is open-mindedness. We would never understand
each other, if we are not even willing to listen. We cannot always look at the
extremes; sometimes it is still best to meet halfway than blaming the other
end. Lastly, I really do believe that this issue must reach other people so
that it could correct the misconceptions about Zamboanga, Mindanao, and the
Muslim people in general.
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