Adiong raised the question in a forum here last Wednesday with journalists participating in a media tour going around conflict-affected areas last week organized by the Mindanao Peoples Caucus. Journalist Samira Gutoc facilitated the forum.

He shared findings culled from a fact-finding mission they conducted with the Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement (MPMM) on October 14 where 21 volunteers visited four remote barangays in Piagapo in Lanao del Sur that were affected by military operations conducted from September 19 to 26.

“Because these places are inaccessible, no media or outsider has ever managed to visit the place,” he said.

Among the team’s findings were the burning of 19 houses in barangays Palacat, Talao, Kangkong, and Taporeg, all in Piagapo town and the destruction of mosques and madaris.

He also reported the alleged “indiscriminate bombing and shelling of 105 Howitzers at night up to early morning during Ramadhan which landed in several houses and in front of the mosque and school.”

He also said a certain Yasser Markakim, 14, from Barangay Palacat , Piagapo, was killed and that his body was found in a toilet hole.

He also showed photographs taken by the fact-finding team on the killing of 15-year-old Saadudin Ampuan in Barangay Sta. Cruz, Matunggao, Lanao del Norte who was allegedly taken by soldiers belonging to the 43rd Infantry Battalion under the 104th Infantry Brigade of Lanao del Norte on Sept. 21.

Ampuan’s family, according to Adiong, found him the following day in a shallow grave with the body beyond recognition. “His sex organ and two ears were cut, and his entire body tortured and cut in different directions,” he said.

“After presenting to you these atrocities and serious violations of human rights, questions will arise, among others, why are these not publicized in media?” Adiong asked.

“What was actually presented is only 25% of what is actually happening in the province of Lanao del Sur,” he said.

Dr. Safrullah Dipatuan of the Bangsamoro Development Agency said that Moros are now complaining that when atrocities are committed against Christians, these are all well-publicized and sensationalized in the media.

“But when there are HRVs against Bangsamoro people, the media are looking the other way,” Dipatuan said. “But media may also be saying we are not able to witness what happened and how can we report it?”

Aleem Elias Macarandas called on media to recognize its role in promoting either peace or war. “How much role have the media done in the recent war?”

“When Moros are victims, reporting seems biased. Nothing is published. I am challenging you to have the moral duty to publish,” said former Lanao del Sur vice-governor Khalib Dimapuno.

The groups plan to set up a media secretariat that would ensure that information on human rights violations and the plight of internally-displaced persons get to be disseminated to media.  

“Mindanao journalists have their own struggles.  Problema din namin iyan.  Kahit anong kwento ng paghihirap, di lumalabas sa national. Struggle natin ito lahat,” said Romy Elusfa, a journalist and an MPC volunteer.

Datu Lacs Dalidig of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS-Ranaw) said that they are appealing to both the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) “to intervene and mediate to end the war in Mindanao and intercede for the just resolution of the Bangsamoro struggle for the right to self-determination.”

Dalidig, who exposed cheating in the 2004 elections, said that the “Bangsamoro people have been used by the government in electoral anomalies and despite evidences they presented that could have been ground for impeachment of the president, these have been ignored.”

“That is why the only solution would be for the Bangsamoro people to be given the chance to govern through the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE),” he said.

To date, there are 38,433 displaced families in Lanao del Sur, reported Datu Musa Diamla, provincial government coordinator for CSOs. 

Some 19 houses in Lanao del Sur and 13 others in Calanagas were burned.
“When civilians see armed men whether they are from the Philippine Army or the MILF, they always run away out of fear,” said Diamla. (Charina Sanz/MindaNews)

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