By Muhair Abdullah

General Santos City/January 27 – The Mindanao People’s Caucus (MPC), newly recognized member organization to the International Monitoring Team (IMT) on the civilian protection aspect, organized and invited Manila and Mindanao-based journalists on the seminar-workshop on peace reportage last January 21-23 held at the Family Country Hotel and Convention Center, this city.

The gathering of media journalists and opinion-makers is one of the steps of the MPC supported by the European Union (EU) as part of Mindanao initiative toward achieving peace. EU Ambassador Alistair MacDonald personally came and shared his thoughts to the media men and civil society groups including a representative from internally displaced persons (IDPs)..

The media men were also refreshed by the presentation made by Mindanao historian Professor Rudy Rodil, former member of the Government Peace Panel, on the historical background of conflicts in Mindanao and how the peace process moves in spite of different challenges.

Journalists like Ed Lingao of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Marites Vitug of Newsbreak, Carol Arguillas of MindaNews, among others, shared their outlooks and observations as media practitioners.

Lingao presented points on how media becomes a resource for peace while Arguillas specifically made critical review and assessment of the current Mindanao peace reportage.

Before Marites Vitug presented her short slides on “gaps and gaps on peace reportage,” Anwar Upahm of the MPC, Bantay Ceasefire team leader, presented a Bangsamoro perspective on how media and journalists cover the Mindanao conflict.

Upahm said that the media coverage and reports on Mindanao IDPs is not extensive as to their coverage to the IDPs displaced by the typhoon Ondoy.

“Showbiz reports are more given attention than those reports concerning the situation in the evacuation centers in Mindanao such as the number of children killed due to diseases, lack of food and potable water, among others,” Upahm stressed in the plenary.

“Kung wala bang media na kasama sa Maguindanao massacre, pareho ba ang pangangalampag natin ngayon?” (If there were no media men included in the Maguindanao massacre, will our reactions be the same?), Upahm asked.

At the end, Upahm also cited recommendations on how journalists and the civil society groups develop a line of communication in terms of information-sharing.