Page 72 - Conflict, Terrorism, and the Media In Asia

4 The Philippines media

Agent of stability or restraint?

Benjamin Cole

Introduction
The political stability and territorial integrity of the Philippines are threatened by a
number of sub-national conflicts, including the worlds longest standing Communist
insurgency, a separatist rebellion centred around the Muslim Moro community on
the island of Mindanao, as well as terrorist groups with links to al Qaeda, pursuing
a mixture of national and regional objectives. Some of these conflicts were drawn
into the US ‘war on terror’ when the US State Department placed the Communist
Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing the New Peoples Army (NPA),
as well as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and the Pentagon Gang (a criminal gang
specialising in kidnap for ransom), on its list of ‘foreign terrorist organisations’after
11 September 2001. All of the groups and communities that are currently engaged
in conflict with the Philippine government are able to exert considerable influence
over the media agenda through violence but have struggled to influence media out-
puts to their advantage. This chapter assesses how the media has reported these
conflicts since 2000, the extent to which the various groups and communities
engaged in conflict with the government have been able to influence media outputs
and the impacts that the media has had on these conflicts.

The Filipino media and the conflicts on Mindanao
The Filipino media is considered to be the freest in Asia, boasting a wide array of
print media, TV and radio stations, with the internet also providing a forum for
community journalism and political debate. In 2002 there were 3.5 million inter-
net users in the Philippines (CIA 2005), although penetration in the countryside
is low for reasons of infrastructure and cost (Flor 2003: 352). Yet this freedom has
not always guaranteed independent reporting. Most media inspired political
debate in the Philippines reflects the voices of powerful owners or interest groups
tied to politics or business interests (McCargo 2003: 20).
Sections of the Filipino media have previously played a major role as agents of
political change. Radio Veritas, which is operated by the Catholic Church, is
widely credited with having brought down President Marcos in 1986, by mobilising
millions of people for anti-Marcos demonstrations. But rather than initiating