COTABATO CITY–Nineteen journalists from Luzon were familiarized with the Mindanao culture and its people, particularly with the Muslim or the Bangsamoro communities–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARRM) to gain first hand experience and observation in telling the real stories about Mindanao.
Amalia Cabusao, Program Manager of the “Inside BARMM: A Walk Through the Bangsamoro Region” Luzon Edition which also earlier had the Visayas Edition and will conduct next the Mindanao Edition aims to equip journalists with the understanding of the complexities of the BARMM, paying attention to its history, the peace process, recent political developments and cultural dynamics.
Also, the familiarization tour aims for journalists in Luzon to improve through informed reportage the coverage of BARMM elections for wider public understanding of the Bangsamoro issues and their implications to democratic process and the development trajectory of the country.
The Jan. 23-26 familiarization tour gave the journalists from different regions in Luzon including in the National Capital Region an up close and personal meetings and interviews with the heads of the BARMM and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) They visited the MILF’s Camp Darapanan, the Grand and Pink Mosques, the Bangsamoro museum, the weaving center and barter trade, and savored delivious Maguindanao cuisine as well as the famous pastil.
The Media Impact Philippines project, a partnership of the Mindanao Institute of Journalism and the International Media Support (IMS), the European Union, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, brought the journalists to at least 3 out of the 5 provinces of the BARMM–Maguindanao del Norte where Camp Darapanan of the MILF is located, Maguindanao del Sur, the sites of the Mamasapano tragedy in 2015 and the Ampatuan massacre in 2009 and in the province of Sultan Kudarat where they had lunch at Esperanza, the favorite food hub of the Mindanawon journos.
The journalists visited and stayed in Cotabato City, one out of the three cities of BARMM other than Lamitan City and Marawi City.
BARMM comprises the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Tawi-tawi. BARMM is supposed to compose of 6 provinces–including Sulu. But, 54% of its residents rejected BARMM during its 2019 plebiscite. The Supreme Court ruled in September last year that the consent of the governed, as reflected in the plebiscite results, should prevail, and declared Sulu out of the BARMM.
Carolyn Arguillas, Special Reports Editor of MindaNews, said the BARRM is the only autonomous region in the country. BARMM, she said, is very unique because it is a region that is born out of a peace agreement and the only region in the country with a parliamentary system of governance.
Mindanao has a total of 28 provinces, 33 cities and 6 regions.
Power house cast of media members
Mohagher Iqbal, Member of the BARMM Parliament and Minister of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (or Education Minister) and chair of the MILF Peace Implementing Panel welcomed the journos as he acknowledged the media’s significant role and their presence, saying the group who visited him that moment for an interview was “a powerhouse cast of media members”.
Iqbal also expressed admiration to the media for having to grind for the issues and the truth all day as their respective meals but the sensitive part in journalism is that the messenger should not be shot or attacked.
“It is a powerhouse media we have today. Media have news issues as their breakfast, lunch, dinner, even midnight snacks. It is not quite a hard thing to face the media. Media tells the truth and the reality. The sensitive part is that there is a basic law in journalism, never shoot a messenger, you are all a messenger,” he told the group including Jose Jowel Canuday, Chief Executive Officer of Mindanao Institute of Journalism.
BARMM was formed with the ratification of its basic law, the Bangsamoro Organic Law, during the 2019 plebiscite. Republic Act 11054, the enabling law of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the peace agreement signed on March 27, 2014 by the government and the MILF, provided that the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is deemed abolished and replaced by the BARMM once the organic law is ratified.
3 day tour
On Day 1: Jan. 23, Thursday, the group observed the BARMM Parliament Session at the Bangsamoro Government Center (BGC) in Cotabato City, Maguindanao wherein all of them were recognized as well as other visitors observing the session by one of the Parliament Deputy Speakers Atty. Omar Yasser Sema, then the presiding officer.
It was followed by the tour at The Grand Mosque in Brgy. Kalanganan II, Cotabato City, otherwise known as Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (Sultan of Brunei Darussalam). Women were requested to wear hijab (veil) when entering the mosque premises. There are dresses for rent or sale near the mosque.
Day 2, Jan. 24, Friday, the group toured to MILF Moro Administrative Camp in Darapanan, Maguindanao Del Norte where everyone was welcomed and briefed by Camp Commander Kudzaa Bayao, Operations Commander Garex Shariff and Deputy Base Commander Ustadz Akas Mohammad. There was a more than an hour interview where the journos were served with the famous Pastil, boiled egg, bottled mineral water, and cold tea.
It was followed with a tour at the Bangsamoro Museum located at Bangsamoro Government Center (BGC), Cotabato City, Maguindanao Del Sur.
It is at Al Nor Hotel where the meeting and interview with Iqbal was held. He even gave each one of the journalists his own written book, entitled “Bangsamoro: A Nation Under Endless Tyranny” which he each personally signed. Dir. Gen. Mohajirin Ali of Planning & Dev’t Authority & Asst. Senior Minister, Atty. Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba, Minister of the Interior & Local Govt., and Deputy Leader Atty. Lanang Ali, Jr. Also joined Minister Iqbal in answering questions from the group.
On Day 3, Feb. 25, Saturday, the journos commemorated the 10th year anniversary of the Mamasapano incident, wherein forty four members of the Special Action Force (SAF) of the Philippine National Police were killed in a clash with the MILF troopers. It was a tragedy that could have been prevented if the SAF had coordinated with the military and MILF in the area, because there were peace process mechanisms that required coordination when entering MILF areas. The journalists offered prayers and wreaths near a tree in the middle of the corn field beside a river in Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao del Sur where the exact battle happened.
Mamasapano 66 tragedy
For the first time, the Luzon journos directly heard from counterpart journos in Mindanao-Arguillas that the Maasapano 44 was in reality “Mamasapano 66” because there are still others who were also killed–17 MILF combatants and 5 civilians.
The group then proceeded to the Ampatuan Massacre site in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur where they also offered prayers and lit candles in the site where the 32 of them journalists.
The rest of the third day tour was spent for cultural encounters through a visit to the Pink Mosque in the municipality of Datu Saudi Ampatuan in Maguindanao del Sur and the Weaving Center and Barter Trade in Cotabato City.
Arguillas said the group had travelled 270 kilometers during their almost four day tour.
The former Philippine Daily Inquirer Bureau Editor for Mindanao said the Luzon journalists’ visit was a mere preview and she hoped that this journey of understanding the BARMM continues because a major part of addressing the historical injustices committed against the Bangsamoro lies through them, the media.
“Because if we report on something we do not know or understand, we can be part of the problem. But, we can also be part of the solution. We hope that the war will not happen again, the Ampatuan massacre, the Mamasapano tragedy. Peace is a process and not just an event. Mahaba pa ang journey pero padayon ta!,” she said.
