The term “all-out war” is in the news again these days, referring to the call being made by an increasing number of people for government to engage the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the same manner that former President Joseph Estrada did in March 2000. Indeed, even Estrada himself is daring President Benigno Aquino to “do an Erap” and train the AFP’s guns on the rebels because of the deaths of 19 soldiers in Basilan last week. His call was quickly followed by others in government and the private sector, and now even informal media polls are showing that more and more people are eager to see war break out in Mindanao to teach the rebels a lesson.

But what does an “all-out war” really mean? Most of those who are lending their voice to the call for war live outside Mindanao. For them, war is just a concept, a show, something to watch on TV or read in the newspapers. But for us who live in Mindanao, war is a fearsome thing, one that threatens lives and displaces countless numbers of people. As former President Fidel V. Ramos correctly pointed out, Estrada’s all-out war caused misery to a million people who were displaced by the fighting. And we must never forget that in the end, the war did nothing to solve the MILF problem. If anything, it worsened the situation.

So who wants war? It is mostly those who will not be affected by it directly. It’s easy to vote for war while one sits at home, sheltered from the conflict by the sheer distance to the actual battlefield. May we suggest that those who want war transfer residence to Mindanao first and have themselves caught in the crossfire between government and MILF troops. Maybe then they will know how hard life is while bullets and bombs careen through the air. War is no light matter, and those who throw the word around carelessly do not know that they are killing people.

Get the stories straight

The way the Manila-based media outlets are presenting Mindanao these days, one would think that all hell has broken loose here. Ever since the killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio and the deaths of 19 soldiers at the hands of the MILF, Mindanao has consistently been on the front pages of newspapers – with virtually all the stories casting the island in a negative light. This in spite of the fact that the two incidents happened in specific places in Mindanao – Arakan Valley, North Cotabato in the case of Fr. Tentorio and Basilan in the case of the soldiers – that do not in any way represent the situation in the entire island. It makes as much sense as saying that the entire Metro Manila area is a den of thieves just because a few robbers operate in, say, Caloocan City. It is unfair to brand an entire region in a particular way just because something happens in a tiny corner of it.

This has been a longstanding problem with Manila media outlets, and there is no assurance that they will ever change. It is partly due to laziness: it is simply easier to lump all the areas of conflict and violence and label them “Mindanao” than to take the effort to identify exactly where these incidents are happening. But a bigger part may be said to be monetary: it is easier to sell newspapers and draw TV and radio audiences in when the stories are about war, not peace. War sells, and war in Mindanao can be a treasure trove if one tells the story in a way that highlights conflict.

Whatever the reason, Manila media have a lot of rewriting to do if they are to be true to their vow of presenting only the truth to their readers, viewers, and listeners. It is their responsibility to get their stories right, not just in terms of the facts of specific incidents, but of the overall picture in Mindanao. A careless adjective such as conflict-ridden, war-torn, troubled, and lawless – all of which are being used in reports on Mindanao – can paint such a negative picture that prospective visitors and investors are forever scared off. More important, these terms tend to demonize Mindanaoans, especially the Muslim population, and instil in the minds of people that the “war” here is their doing. It is time for the Manila media to get their stories straight.

Jon Joaquin is the managing editor of the largest circulation newspaper in Mindanao, the Mindanao Daily Mirror in Davao City.

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