CAMBA, Meeko Angela R.

2014-09379

J 100 [Prof. Guioguio]

02/21/15

The Mamasapano Massacre and the Media

The news of the Mamasapano firefight incident has been making
headlines in every major newspaper as well as TV and radio stations for weeks
since it happened last January 25. Said to be the largest loss of life in recent
history suffered by the PNP, confusion had risen as to who shall be blamed and
held responsible for the loss of the lives of 44 PNP-SAF troopers, 18 MILF
members, and 5 civilians in an operation that also claimed the life of wanted
international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, but failed to capture local
terrorist Basit Usman.

Mostly due to the large casualty rate attained by the

operation, intense emotions have surfaced, particularly from the families of the
slain individuals that demand for justice to be served at all costsa pledge
indirectly pushed forth by the media as well.
The media functioning as the gatekeepers of information has been very
influential in the past few weeks as to how the public perceived the
Mamasapano incident. Although investigations that pursue the truth regarding
the operation have not yet been finished, conclusions have already been drawn
since the week of when the event itself happened; SAF troopers were
immediately branded as fallen heroes, while the MILF was shown to have
proven

themselves

unreliable

and

were

subsequently

doubted

in

their

commitment to the peace process being undertaken with the government.

Furthermore, the spotlight of all the blame was inevitably directed to the
Commander in Chief himself, President Aquino for the failed execution of the
arrest operation-turned-massacre (as it were labeled by some press sources)
that unnecessarily claimed so many lives.
Fallen Forty-Four

Within the first week of the incident (and prior to any investigation),
various media sources and channels have took it upon themselves to pay their
own tributes for the fallen 44 as they called it, publishing pictures, personal
stories, and statements from the families and loved onesanything at all that
made these lawmen more human to the public eyes. An example of this would
be an article in the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer on the day of the
27th in January how one of the slain SAF officers planned to marry his fiance the
following year.

The article even took to something as personal as the last

message of the slain officer to his fiance saying that, in the words of the
supposed bride, he loves me so much and that we will see each other soon,
(Inquirer, p. A4). A similar attempt to a tribute is a feature (SAF 44: the Fallen
Heroes) made in an episode of TV news commentary show, Failon Ngayon
shown on January 31st highlighting the personal backgrounds of each slain SAF
trooper as well as the loved ones they left behind, accompanied by striking
statements such as Senior Inspector Max Jim Tirahindi na magigisnang ama
ng sanggol na dinadala ng kanyang nobya, quoted from reporter, Ted Failon
himself. Such features and tributes were aired and printed simultaneously with
accounts on what happened in the incident as well as reports and speculations
on the authorities behind the made order that pushed through with the costly
operation.
In the accounts of the happenings on the Mamasapano incident, several
times was the press quoted of referring to it as a massacre without any
concrete findings from the investigations, in contradiction to what the
governmentparticularly Interior Secretary Roxaslabeled as a misencounter.
It was also greatly emphasized by news channels of all sorts from print to
broadcast media when President Aquino failed to attend the arrival of the fallen
SAF members at the Villamor Air Base due to his prior commitment to a car
event in Sta. Rosa, Laguna; a move that had cost him many criticisms from both
the press and the public alike and somehow also getting blamed for not putting
a stop to the operation that couldve saved the fallen men, being the
Commander in Chief and all.

Putting these stories side-by-side whether unintentionally created an

image of distrust among the public (third party) against the President and the
government. Quoting again from the Philippine Daily Inquirer in the paper
published on February 6, a statement from Sen. Trillanes said that political
groups, leftist organizations and some belonging to the Church were among
those taking advantage of the valid outrage to sow discontent with the
government. It is to this extent that the media became instrumental to how the
public saw and reacted on the tragic incident.
Emotional Overkill
Evidently from the get-go, the media took the story in an angle that
banked on the heightened human emotions of the affected parties to appeal to
its readers, hitting some kind of overkill, rather than taking the objective third
party viewpoint. For a whole week of publicizing, or rather overemphasizing the
SAF troopers personal lives and the angry and grieving statements of widowed
families, alongside the loosely made assumptions regarding the matter, it in a
way violated the first standard set by the Philippine Press Institute in the
Journalists Code of Ethics saying I shall scrupulously report and interpret the
news, taking care not to suppress essential facts nor to distort the truth by
omission or improper emphasis. I recognize the duty to air the other side,
(Philippine Press Institute). Dwelling somewhat unnecessarily on the deaths of
the fallen 44 instead of the actual events that led to why it happened made
careless impressions that the MILF is uncommitted to peace, and that the
government doesnt care for what happened to its menimpressions that may
or may not be true. But in doing such also misrepresented the other side of the
story. Because of these said features, people tend to forget that the MILF also
suffered lossesgranted less, but losses all the samewith families on the other
side possibly grieving.
The Bangsamoro Basic Law or the BBL is another aspect of the story
getting its fair share of the spotlight. With hearings on the proposed bill put on
hold, the BBL has become collateral damage, of the said firefight, as

expressed by Lanao del Sur congressman, Pangalian Balindog in the Philippine

Star last February 12 (Star, p. 1). And with the amount of emotional trigger
against the MILF that the press, whether unintentionally, fired up, it is highly
likely that the bill would be getting a lot of criticisms and protests for delay from
the public. Attempting to present the two sides of the coin, journalists try to get
statements from government officials who advocate for the BBL, but how could
rational judgment arise if the initial targeting strategy from the press was
through emotional response? It is in this sense that information presentation
becomes greatly important, coupled with it is the high responsibility entrusted to
the media.
Regaining Objectivity
In the actual investigation, names of various individuals appeared for
questioning on their hand at the failed operation, with suspended PNP Chief
Gen. Purisima and SAF Director Napenas on center stage. Miscommunication
between the PNP to the AFP and the MILF is also being looked at as the culprit to
the operation.
It was addressed during one of the Senate hearings in the article Who
told P-Noy when? in the Philippine Star on the 13 th of February that Pres. Aquino
could not have put a stop on the operation when it was already on-going
because he himself was not aware of what was happening in Mamasapano
during the time of the firefight (Star, p. 1), contradicting to the earlier
broadcasted reports that the President really intended to be in the area para
magpagwapo as Ted Failon put it in one of his commentaries on the issue
(Failon Ngayon). It was also eventually reported that it was Gen. Purisima (not
Aquino) that advised SAF Dir. Napenas to avoid telling other high-ranking
security officials, PNP OIC Chief Gen. Espina, AFP Chief Gen. Catapang, Defense
Sec. Gazmin, and Interior Sec. Roxas, prior regarding the secret operation which
also became the reason for the delayed reinforcements by the AFP during the
bloodbath.

With these findings, the public get a more general and holistic
understanding on how and why the tragedy turned out the way it did. But will
that still have an effect compared to the emotional damage done during the first
week of coverage?
Handling Information
As stated by Amartya Sen in his essay, Information-Rich Democracy is
Key to Good Governance, human beings depend upon social collectivity in
making decisions for the progress of social order and that their individual
livesinvariably depend on group decisions, (Sen). It is essential, particularly
for making judgments about social welfare, to compare different individuals'
gains and losses and to take note of their relative affluence, which cannot be
immediately deduced only from people's rankings of social alternatives, (Sen).
With the previous statement, Sen explains that for reasonable and rational
conclusions to be achieved, each individual is responsible in fabricating his or
her own opinions regarding social mattersand this is where the responsibility
of the press comes in.
As previously mentioned, the press defined as the eyes of the public on
social matters provides the key ingredient to each individual in making rational
judgments: information. Thus a limited view on the whole of the concerned issue
(or in the Mamasapano case, the lack of objectivity through overemphasis)
equates to a rash judgment on the third party that may eventually result to
impulsive decisions towards the social order (in this case, the BBL).
Gatekeepers of Information
In the Mamasapano incident, the press had lost sight of one of their
primary responsibilities as the access of information (objective reporting to
create rational public opinions), violating one of the standards of Journalism
Ethics along the way. By giving extreme emphasis on the emotions that
surrounded the incident (not that I belittle them), they have somehow reaped
more confusion and even anger towards various parties involved including the

government, the MILF, and the BBL that may not have to be there in the first
place. And these are the kinds of mistakes that pose a danger to the progress of
the countrys wellbeing. If we cannot attain the most objective way of
presenting information, how can rational decisions be made? Humans depend
on collective decision-making and each individual judgment is based on the
information being presentedor rather how much each individual is informed
and equipped in creating his/her opinion.
Quoting from Sen, enriching the informational base of democracy and
making greater use of interactive public reasoning can contribute significantly to
making democracy more workable, and also allow reasoned assessment of
social welfare. Only when the press learns to present in an objective angle can
each individual fabricate rational and reasonable decisions towards social
progress. And when such decisions are made can we say that we are living in a
true democracy.

Works Cited
Carvajal, Nancy, et al. P-Noy absolved as mission succeeds. Philippine Daily Inquirer 6
Feb. 2015:
A10. Print.
Diaz, Jess. BBL has become collateral damage. Philippine Star 12 Feb. 2015: 1. Print.
Fernandez, Edwin. Slain SAF officer planned to marry fiance next year. Philippine Daily
Inquirer
27 Jan. 2015: A4. Print.
Philippine Press Institute. Journalists Code of Ethics.
SAF 44: The Fallen Heroes. Failon Ngayon. ABS-CBN. 31 Jan. 2015. Television.
Salaveria, Leila, and Burgonio, TJ. Who told P-Noy when? Philippine Star 13 Feb. 2015: 1.
Print.
Sen, Amartya. Information-Rich Democracy is Key to Good Governance. Project Syndicate,
2004.