A village burns in Zamboanga City where troops and rebels fight since September 9, 2013 following simultaneous attacks by Moro National Liberation Front members. (Mindanao Examiner)
As sporadic fighting continues in Zamboanga, a new war is also heating up in social media – the battle for propaganda – where anti-government forces and pro-rebels have stepped up their attacks further inflaming the already tense situation in the southern Filipino port city.
In Facebook, Ustadz Haber Malik, the leader of Moro National Liberation Front forces who stormed Zamboanga on September 9, is now being immortalized by some groups as a hero for fighting their cause and self-determination in Mindanao – now they called Bangsamoro Republik.
Others have blamed the Aquino government for all the violence that is happening not only in Zamboanga, but to the rest of the southern region where security are fighting several rebel and terrorist groups.
While some insisted that hundreds of government soldiers were killed and wounded in the fighting and that many of rebels slain in the clashes were actually civilians shot by security forces during military assaults.
The media were also being blamed for not reporting the mounting death toll on the military side, accusing radio and television reporters for covering up the casualties and engaging in the government propaganda war.
One photo showing a destroyed military tank in Syria was also posted on Facebook with a caption saying it was hit by a rocket fired by MNLF rebels.
There were also those who jubilantly praised rebel forces for killing the soldiers they branded as infidels as if the fighting had anything to do with religion.
And this was aggravated by a headline story of a tabloid “Kristiyano Vs Muslim sa Zambo,” which generated so much criticisms that editors had to change its banner story and printed a second edition. Editors also apologized for their choice of the use of words in their banner story, but the next day, its screaming headline was “100 Moro Patay, Huli.” It was also largely criticized by many readers and netizens as a racial slur. Both digital images of the papers went viral on Facebook.
One regional newspaper had “MNLF DEMANDS REVIEW OF 1996 PEACE DEAL” for its banner story, referring to the accord the Philippines had signed with the rebel group.
But for pro-government forces, Facebook is a battle ground to praise the brave soldiers and policemen and all those who are running the operations to stop the rebels from further inflicting serious damages not only to physical structures in Zamboanga, but the very heart of everybody – Christians and Muslims and indigenous people – who are most affected by the violence.
Pictures of civilians handing out food and bottled water to soldiers and policemen battling the rebel forces and keeping them at bay also spread and went viral on Facebook.
President Benigno Aquino, who flew to Zamboanga with his Cabinet members and senior military and defense commanders to oversee the government efforts to feed over 100,000 refugees and end the crisis peacefully, have been largely praised on the social media.
Many civilians offered prayers on their Facebook timeline – posting verses from the Bible and the Quran - for troops and rebels fighting in the frontlines.
And religious groups – Christian, Muslim and Evangelist – also offered prayers for the clashes to come to an end; others pray for Divine intervention believing only God can stop the bloodshed in Zamboanga where over 100 people had already been killed.
http://mindanaoexaminer.blogspot.com/2013/09/in-philippines-facebook-turns-into.html
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.