From ‘rebels’ to ‘guerrillas’: seeking for the truth

This will be a very short write-up on how media, local and international, have been reporting on what has been happening in Zamboanga. I’m just referring to the alleged perpetrator of the violence done there.

The early media reports in both the local and international press used the words “MNLF rebels” and “Muslim rebels”. A few days later the wording was toned down to “armed rebels believed to be MNLF fighters”.

Now 2 weeks after it all started, those violent attackers were referred to as “guerrillas”. The words “Muslim” and even “rebels” have been dropped. Also dropped were “police” and “military” and exchanged with “government forces”.

These changes in media reportage raise a lot of questions. The first set of questions is about the source/s of the news. These could be Government, Rebels’ organization, and independent media. These 3 could each have self-serving reason for the way the put into English words the violent incidents. But as usual the truth can easily be found in the independent media. Both Gov’t and Rebel Org are interested in ‘Perception’ of all society’s sectors.

By ‘independent media’ I refer to Rapier, Mindanews, CNM, to name a few. These are based locally, are composed of principled professionals, quit or kicked out by mainstream controlled news organizations. The truth, not the news, is their high principle. Which is what we Church people should have before making any comment and decision.