Page 80 - Conflict, Terrorism, and the Media In Asia

The Philippines media 69
There are, however, other elements within the Moro community who use the
internet to disseminate their Islamist ideology. Of these, the Moro Information
Agency actively encourages violence. In 2005, its website published a Fatwa from
the Moro Islamic Youth Union declaring that it was the duty of all Moros to engage
in Jihad against the Filipino government to achieve independence. The Fatwa states
that armed conflict is a central element of the Jihad and that those who die in the
conflict will be martyrs. However it recognises that the nature of an individual’s
contribution to the Jihad can vary. Professionals, writers and University students for
instance, should use the media to explain the oppression of the Moro people and
refute the ‘black propaganda’ of the government (Fatwa Council of the Moro Youth
Union 2005). The full text of the Fatwa is over 3,000 words long, so the advantage
of the internet is that it allows the full text of such documents to be accessed without
being misquoted, caveated or questioned by the mainstream media.
Despite the improvements in reporting, some sections of the media have still
not overcome the shortcomings in their work that were identified in 2000. There
is still a considerable amount of one-sidedness. Most opposition to MILF involve-
ment in the peace process is found in the tabloids. These newspapers believe that
the government cannot and should not grant independence to Mindanao, which
renders the peace process a sham until the MILF relinquishes that objective. This
view has been articulated by the Mindanao Daily Mirror:

But what ‘peace’ is there to talk about? The government has been bending
over backwards and stretching its patience to the limit in a bid to have last-
ing peace in Mindanao. But while members of MILF’s peace panel kuno are
‘talking’ with their counterparts from the government, other MILF terrorists
are busy stocking more arms, taking advantage of the lull in skirmishes with
government troops....These Islamic terrorists will only stop wrecking
havoc in Mindanao if their ultimate goal is reached: the establishment of an
independent and Islamic state from a part, if not the whole, of Mindanao.
Will the Christians in the country’s second biggest island who outnumber the
Muslims five to one allow such thing to happen? NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.
(Mindanao Daily Mirror 2005d)

The same publication has also advocated a hard line military approach to the
conflict:

The alleged ‘unilateral ceasefire’ is a ploy to give the Muslim terrorists a
breather, to allow them to restack guns and ammunition. They are on the run
what with the military’s continued pounding on ‘embedded terrorist cells’ in
Lanao del Norte and other parts of Central Mindanao. So, on with the
show...all-out war by the government against the MILF marauders until
the last terrorist is either killed or captured. Give them no quarters for they
deserve none. To borrow Philippine Star columnist Alex Magno’s call, give
war a chance.
(Mindanao Daily Mirror 2005c)