Page 75 - Conflict, Terrorism, and the Media In Asia

64 Benjamin Cole
(Manila Times 2003d; Reporters Without Borders 2004). Local elites try to influ-
ence media outputs through verbal attacks on journalists and physical assaults on
media targets. The majority of these incidents appear to be related to media inves-
tigations of corruption, but there are incidents related to the conflicts on Mindanao.
In May 2004 for instance, the governor of Lanao del Norte province on Mindanao,
Imelda Dimaporo, called on President Arroyo to investigate radio DXIC-Iligan for
sedition, because it broadcast interviews with the MILF leader, Abdurahman
‘Commander Bravo’ Macapaar. The governor suggested that its licence should be
suspended or withdrawn (Reporters Without Borders 2004).
Despite the improvement in media performance between 2000 and 2003, it had
still proven unequal to the task of explaining the complex and multi-faceted charac-
ter of contemporary political violence to its readers and also to the more urgent task
of serving as the advocate of citizen rights (Teodoro 2003). By 2003, elements of the
media were increasingly playing a role as agents of restraint, but the media as a
whole was still acting as an agent of stability. Since 2003 there have been encourag-
ing signs that the media is still striving to correct these flaws and is gradually
improving its performance and increasingly adopting the role of agent of restraint.

The Maoist insurgency
The CPP and its armed wing, the NPA, have waged a thirty-five-year Maoist
guerrilla war against the government. The CPP claimed in 2003 that the NPA had
deployed fighters in 800 towns in 70 provinces across the country (Sun Star
Davao 2003), and in 2004 the military estimated the strength of the NPA to be up
to 8,000 fighters (Manila Bulletin 2004j). Over the years there have been inter-
mittent peace negotiations between the CPP and the government. The negotia-
tions re-started in 2004 after a three-year hiatus but have made little progress. In
their dealings with the government the CPP-NPA, along with other revolutionary
groups, are united under the banner of the National Democratic Front (NDF).
The CPP-NPA maintain professional relations with members of the media
because they see it as a partner in exposing government corruption and abuses (Sun
Star Davao 2004b). In turn, the media represents both sides of the conflict and
remains uncritical of the peace process. The CPP-NPA has full and regular access to
all sections of the media, which is often invited to visit NPA camps. As a result, it
has a significant influence over media outputs. The Manila Times has even suggested
that the voice of Gregorio ‘Ka Roger’ Rosal, the spokesman of the CPP, is so com-
monplace on the radio that millions of listeners have come to regard it as part of the
daily news rather than ‘a disturbing presence of a guerrilla openly challenging a gov-
ernment’ (Manila Times 2003g). Given that the CPP-NPA’s support base is largely
based in impoverished, hard to reach, rural areas, radio is one of the most important
forms of media for communicating its message to its constituency. The print media,
especially the Manila broadsheets, and TV are probably of more use in communi-
cating to a wider urban audience which is not the natural constituency of the CPP.
The positive nature of this relationship is reflected in how the media labels the
CPP-NPA. The US has labelled both of them as terrorist organisations, and the