The Moral High Ground : AFP losing the propaganda war in Mindanao
Mike Banos
July 22, 2006
I READ with great interest an article posted last Sunday by our good friend and former Gold Star Daily editor AJ Corral in his newsblog Zamboanga Journal entitled "AFP Losing Propaganda War In Mindanao."
AJ notes that both the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), have maintained their own newsgroups and websites where journalists can access the latest news and photos from the battle fronts as well as statements of their leaders regarding key issues affecting the nation. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has also constructed its own website which offers daily news and photographs and of course, its propaganda.
"Ours is to inform not only the Bangsamoro people, but the whole world about what the MILF is all about and our aspirations. We have our website the past ten years to inform the press about what’s going on, like the peace talks between the MILF and the government and other important matters," Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the MILF, told the Zamboanga Journal.
Communist rebels are also sending regular press releases to local and foreign media organizations and journalists (delivered personally, no less, by their foot soldiers, or the infantry, if you will. I’ve experienced this oftentimes in the past when their PRs would seemingly materialize out of nowhere in our newsrooms!)
CPP spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, and other rebel leaders in Mindanao, notably Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos, are also as active as Kabalu. Ka Oris is a regular fixtures in local radio programs where he has often exchanged words with his "best friend" in the Diamond Division, retired colonel Frank Simbajon.
In contrast, the military, in southern Philippines in particular, have perfected the game of hide-and-seek with journalists, being scarce when important security related events or issues hang in the balance, but surface with a vengeance to lambaste media for stories that cast them or government in a bad light.
Faced with daily deadlines and uncooperative government officials, the media equivalent of the lowly infantryman has no other recourse but to fall back on the Internet for his latest information, and since both the military and police have no websites which discuss current issues affecting the local situation, they are losing the propaganda by default to the NPA and MILF who are only too willing to talk or have the info they need posted in their websites.
MILF spokesman Kabalu couldn’t have put it better when he said, "The media is very important to us. We respect the media and we don’t hide news or withhold information. We report the truth to the people so they would know the situation in Mindanao." Thus, the MILF always strives to have its leaders and spokesmen available to media.
I experienced this personally while I was still assigned in Iligan City and had the opportunity to interview top MILF leaders in the province and region by cellphone. That’s not something you can do as easily with top military and police officials, although it is admittedly a lot easier to interview local government officials. Moreover, as AJ correctly observed, these top MILF officials also readily grant face-to-face media interviews, especially for those journalists who have earned their trust.
Sadly, that kind of trust is often lacking in the police, military and government bureaucracy, where trust and confidence, more often than not, hang on the amount of cash found inside the envelope.
While it would be well for the journalist on his beat to take everything the NPA and MILF say over the radio, TV or in interviews for print with a grain of salt, still the fact that they are much more accessible than police or military officials often mean that the government is indeed losing the propaganda war by default.
This has often been exacerbated by the tendency of military, police and even local government institutions to be highly centralized, with the consequent perception there is a lack of transparency, or that they are trying to give reporters hurrying to beat their deadlines the proverbial slip. This the government has to address and fast!
Another issue which I personally encountered recently are the apparent "favoritism" of some government officials when choosing whom to grant interviews. They seem to be more bent on getting their sound bytes aired in national programs than letting the people who are their constituents know about key issues and events that affect their daily lives. Still another is the tendency to invite only those who are members of the media "press corps" they personally sponsored and organized, to the exclusion of other equally deserving and legitimate media.
Happily, the situation in our region is a little better, thanks to the untiring efforts of the likes of Senior Supt. Rolly dela Vega of Camp Alagar, the Fourth Division’s Col. Simbajon and Maj. Samuel Sagun; and others who would prefer to keep a low profile and have their superiors take the limelight.
However, much as they would like to increase media access to the police and military, there are still instances wherein Rolly, Frank, Sam and company cannot release information on orders of superiors since these involve "national security" and may unnecessarily put some of their people and the people they work with in danger.
In the end, just like military tactics for time immemorial have stressed, the one who holds the high ground often prevails in any given battle situation. In this war for what Misamis Oriental Gov. Oca Moreno correctly calls "A War for the Hearts and Minds of the People," those who hold the moral high ground in the dissemination of timely, accurate and correct information to the people through media will emerge victorious.
It’s not too late. It’s now so easy to set up a news blog or website that government’s neglect to meet the NPA and MILF on even terms in cyberspace borders on the criminal. The least they can do, given their limited resources, is to achieve parity and negate the information available in the communist and secessionist websites by actively answering those issues on their own sites which should likewise be open to all.
If their resources are limited, think of the constraints facing the communist and moro rebels in the boondocks. How come they have managed to set up readily accessible news sites and newsgroups on the Internet and give media free access to their leaders and the government cannot?
I really have no idea. Why don’t you ask them?
INDNJC -
AJ notes that both the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), have maintained their own newsgroups and websites where journalists can access the latest news and photos from the battle fronts as well as statements of their leaders regarding key issues affecting the nation. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has also constructed its own website which offers daily news and photographs and of course, its propaganda.
"Ours is to inform not only the Bangsamoro people, but the whole world about what the MILF is all about and our aspirations. We have our website the past ten years to inform the press about what’s going on, like the peace talks between the MILF and the government and other important matters," Eid Kabalu, a spokesman for the MILF, told the Zamboanga Journal.
Communist rebels are also sending regular press releases to local and foreign media organizations and journalists (delivered personally, no less, by their foot soldiers, or the infantry, if you will. I’ve experienced this oftentimes in the past when their PRs would seemingly materialize out of nowhere in our newsrooms!)
CPP spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, and other rebel leaders in Mindanao, notably Jorge "Ka Oris" Madlos, are also as active as Kabalu. Ka Oris is a regular fixtures in local radio programs where he has often exchanged words with his "best friend" in the Diamond Division, retired colonel Frank Simbajon.
In contrast, the military, in southern Philippines in particular, have perfected the game of hide-and-seek with journalists, being scarce when important security related events or issues hang in the balance, but surface with a vengeance to lambaste media for stories that cast them or government in a bad light.
Faced with daily deadlines and uncooperative government officials, the media equivalent of the lowly infantryman has no other recourse but to fall back on the Internet for his latest information, and since both the military and police have no websites which discuss current issues affecting the local situation, they are losing the propaganda by default to the NPA and MILF who are only too willing to talk or have the info they need posted in their websites.
MILF spokesman Kabalu couldn’t have put it better when he said, "The media is very important to us. We respect the media and we don’t hide news or withhold information. We report the truth to the people so they would know the situation in Mindanao." Thus, the MILF always strives to have its leaders and spokesmen available to media.
I experienced this personally while I was still assigned in Iligan City and had the opportunity to interview top MILF leaders in the province and region by cellphone. That’s not something you can do as easily with top military and police officials, although it is admittedly a lot easier to interview local government officials. Moreover, as AJ correctly observed, these top MILF officials also readily grant face-to-face media interviews, especially for those journalists who have earned their trust.
Sadly, that kind of trust is often lacking in the police, military and government bureaucracy, where trust and confidence, more often than not, hang on the amount of cash found inside the envelope.
While it would be well for the journalist on his beat to take everything the NPA and MILF say over the radio, TV or in interviews for print with a grain of salt, still the fact that they are much more accessible than police or military officials often mean that the government is indeed losing the propaganda war by default.
This has often been exacerbated by the tendency of military, police and even local government institutions to be highly centralized, with the consequent perception there is a lack of transparency, or that they are trying to give reporters hurrying to beat their deadlines the proverbial slip. This the government has to address and fast!
Another issue which I personally encountered recently are the apparent "favoritism" of some government officials when choosing whom to grant interviews. They seem to be more bent on getting their sound bytes aired in national programs than letting the people who are their constituents know about key issues and events that affect their daily lives. Still another is the tendency to invite only those who are members of the media "press corps" they personally sponsored and organized, to the exclusion of other equally deserving and legitimate media.
Happily, the situation in our region is a little better, thanks to the untiring efforts of the likes of Senior Supt. Rolly dela Vega of Camp Alagar, the Fourth Division’s Col. Simbajon and Maj. Samuel Sagun; and others who would prefer to keep a low profile and have their superiors take the limelight.
However, much as they would like to increase media access to the police and military, there are still instances wherein Rolly, Frank, Sam and company cannot release information on orders of superiors since these involve "national security" and may unnecessarily put some of their people and the people they work with in danger.
In the end, just like military tactics for time immemorial have stressed, the one who holds the high ground often prevails in any given battle situation. In this war for what Misamis Oriental Gov. Oca Moreno correctly calls "A War for the Hearts and Minds of the People," those who hold the moral high ground in the dissemination of timely, accurate and correct information to the people through media will emerge victorious.
It’s not too late. It’s now so easy to set up a news blog or website that government’s neglect to meet the NPA and MILF on even terms in cyberspace borders on the criminal. The least they can do, given their limited resources, is to achieve parity and negate the information available in the communist and secessionist websites by actively answering those issues on their own sites which should likewise be open to all.
If their resources are limited, think of the constraints facing the communist and moro rebels in the boondocks. How come they have managed to set up readily accessible news sites and newsgroups on the Internet and give media free access to their leaders and the government cannot?
I really have no idea. Why don’t you ask them?
INDNJC -
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