Twenty-five local media practitioners from the three provinces of Samar Island convened on August 15 for a media orientation organized by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU), in partnership with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
The event aimed to empower media professionals to promote peace, understanding, and positive change in Eastern Visayas, a region historically impacted by prolonged armed conflicts.
PIA Director-General Jose A. Torres Jr. emphasized the shared responsibility of working for peace, highlighting the media’s crucial role in influencing audiences and fostering a more peaceful world through their reporting.
Peace-initiative discussions
Retired Major General Edgardo Y. de Leon, OPAPRU’s Regional Adviser on Peace and Security, presented a comprehensive overview of the local communist armed conflict and the transformation program.
He highlighted positive trends in surrendered combatants and weapons, emphasizing the “whole-of-nation” approach advocated by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP).
Johnnel V. Rañeses, Peace Program Officer V of OPAPRU, discussed localized peace engagements and their transformation program.
He provided context on the policy and legal bases of the peace process, addressed key drivers of the insurgency, and explained how peace settlements are reached with the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army/National Democratic Front (CPP/NPA/NDF) at the local level, persuading them to return to the legal fold.
Participants witnessed success stories of the transformation program in Eastern Samar, actively engaging with resource persons during an open forum to ask questions and share their perspectives.
Media’s perspective
Penelope B. Pomida, a correspondent from Radyo Pilipinas Borongan, expressed her gratitude for participating in the orientation, stating, “We realized that we should not participate in or be part of the propaganda of the CPP/NPA. Instead, we should be part of the government’s developmental news. We commit to disseminating truthful, reliable, and accurate information.”
(Nalaman namin na hindi kami dapat pala makibahagi o maging bahagi ng propaganda ng CPP/NPA. Bagkus, maging kabahagi kami ng developmental news ng government. Amin pong kino-commit ‘yung pag-disseminate ng information, which is truthful, reliable, at accurate,”) she said.
The PIA Eastern Visayas is the lead agency for strategic communication cluster of the RTF-8 ELCAC. By engaging in responsible media reporting, journalists can play a vital role in shaping public perception, raising awareness, and cultivating a sense of hope in communities long plagued by fear and division. (AAC, PIA Leyte)
