Maranaos indignant over attack of TV journalists

From the Sun Star-Cagayan de Oro (Dec 28): Maranaos indignant over attack of TV journalists

Maranaos are indignant over the ambush Saturday of a news crew of ABS-CBN in Marawi City.

On Monday afternoon, over a hundred mostly Maranao youth activists staged a lightning march in the city's Banggolo district where the ambush happened.

This is to show our disgust and condemnation of the attack, said Drieza Lininding of the Bangsamoro National Movement for Peace and Development.

The activists distributed flyers to passersby and pedestrians that bore messages urging the Maranao people to condemn and not tolerate the attack.

"Media (practitioners are) our friend, not our enemy," read one flyer and banner.

"Let us prove to the international community that we are media friendly and that they are safe here," Lininding urged the Maranaos.

"We may not agree with how media practitioners depict our struggle for self-determination and our fight for the Bangsamoro Basic Law, but the media in northern Mindanao have been kind and fair with us," Lininding explained.

Liningding disclosed that they are also gathering pieces of information and clue to identify the suspects.

Aga Khan Shareif, a Moro peace builder, told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro by phone that during a meeting with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front of the two Lanao provinces on December 27, the group vows to help investigate in finding out the culprit of the attempt on the lives of the ABS-CBN news team.

The ABS-CBN news crew escaped physically unscathed from the ambush but they suffered psychological trauma.

They were following up on the bombing of a transmission tower in Ramain, Lanao del Sur on December 24 when motorcycle-riding men followed them and chanced to stage the attack in Marawi.

Local journalists who usually cover Lanao del Sur are confounded by the attack which is not usual in the province despite its unstable security situation.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cagayan-de-oro/local-news/2015/12/28/maranaos-indignant-over-attack-tv-journalists-449100