by Rene V. Carbayas
ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Apr 18 (PIA) – Media
and civil society sectors convened for the first-ever Peace Communication
Summit of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) held at the Al-nor
Convention Hall in Cotabato City.
Representatives of the media and civil
society sectors who came from Manila and various parts of Mindanao gathered on
Tuesday to explore effective ways on how to communicate peace in reporting
about the armed conflict in the south.
The participants related their experiences
and exchanged views anchored on the theme, “Beyond conflict and political
coverage: Is there a room for peace communication in Muslim Mindanao
reportage.”
On behalf of OPAPP Secretary Teresita Quintos
Deles, Assistant Secretary Rosalie Romero relayed her speech to the assembly who
commended the participants “for choosing to take part in the solution to the
issues confronting conflict and political coverage in the country.”
Deles also urged everyone to “remain
optimistic and affirm that indeed there is a space to communicate peace in
reporting the Mindanao conflict.”
“Year after year, various groups and sectors
have organized same forums, proving to us that journalists and communicators
will never run out of avenues to become potent instruments of peace,” Romero
added.
Resource persons from the government, civil
society and media provided information and backdrop for the whole-day
discussion.
Assistant Secretary Rosalie Romero of the
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Public Affairs
Group provided updates on the peace talks and the government’s development
efforts through the PAMANA or Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (Peaceful and
Resilient Communities) program.
Carol Arguillas, editor of MindaNews, gave a
talk on the role of media in promoting peace in the coverage of armed conflict,
while Guiamel Alim, chair of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS),
discussed the role of civil society organizations in peace communication.
Arguillas stressed that peace communication
advocates have been discussing the same things again and again. “What we lack
is action,” she said.
Apart from the media’s dearth of context, she
argued that many reporters do not think about the consequences of what they
write. “A minor skirmish can escalate into a major war because of irresponsible
reportage. What we need to focus on is the repercussion of conflict and
violence.”
Professor Arnold Molina-Azurin of the University
of the Philippines College of Anthropology, on the other hand, discussed the
importance of changing the audience’s mindsets towards supporting the
objectives of peace.
Azurin, who based his discussion on his paper
entitled, “Enculturing Peace by Displacing Myths and War-prone Mindset with
Multicultural Knowledge,” underlined the need to transform mindsets and educate
oneself consistently as a peace communicator.
“We, peace communicators should be creative
in changing mindsets,” he stated. “We should be working harder in acquiring
knowledge because this knowledge will be the one to displace the bad ideas.”
Following the presentations was an open forum
where participants assessed the current state of conflict reportage and talked
over ways to improve it.
