COTABATO CITY — News reporters in southern cities and provinces are now bracing for their coverage of the first-ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) on Oct. 13.
“It is a different kind of electoral exercise, something that shall set a historical precedent. We are excited to cover it,” said Erwin C. Cabilbigan, manager of Station DXMY in Cotabato City, a broadcast outfit of the Radio Mindanao Network.
BARMM, a product of 22 years of peace talks between the government and the MILF, was established in early 2019, replacing the then 27-year less empowered Autonomous Region.
Brig. Gen. Jaysen C. De Guzman, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, and the commander of the Philippine Army, Lt. Gen. Antonio G. Nafarrete, separately told reporters on Thursday, that they shall provide ample security for journalists out to cover the electoral exercise.
“Personnel of our units in all provinces and cities in the autonomous region will secure them to the best they can,” Mr. De Guzman said.
More than 20 print and broadcast journalists and officials of different agencies held a dialogue on Tuesday on the intricacies and ramifications of the Oct. 13 elections in the five provinces and three cities in the region.
The activity was organized by Jose A. Torres, Jr., executive director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS), the office of Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity Carlito G. Galvez, Jr., and the Bangsamoro Information Office under its director, John Ameen Andrew L. Alonto.
Mr. Torres had told reporters present in the forum that their foremost concern is the safety of members of BARMM’s media community.
Representatives from the Army’s 6th Infantry Division also attended the forum, where officials of the Commission on Elections based in BARMM, led by regional director Ray F. Sumalipao, talked about their preparations.
BARMM’s social services minister, the lawyer Raissa H. Jadjurie, explained then how prepared regional officials are to help ensure the credibility of the regional elections.
Air Force Lt. Col. Eisen S. Vicente, a representative of the Armed Forces to the PTFOMS, lectured on security procedures in covering the elections in remote areas in the autonomous region that are beset with security issues.
Mr. Torres provided participants to the forum with insights on how they can promptly avail of interventions by the PTFOMS if they have security concerns while covering the elections.
“We all need to fuse ranks in protecting members of the media community in this part of the country not just during election periods but all the time,” Mr. Torres said. — John Felix M. Unson
