DAVAO CITY—Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus G. Dureza challenged writers from many places in Mindanao “to use their pens and microphones as instruments to amplify the concepts of understanding, unity and peace among the Filipino people.”
Dureza said he is referring to the general public when he talked about the “larger peace table.”
“You are the ones addressing the larger ‘peace table’ 24/7,” he said. “Your audience number in the thousands.”
Dureza said the media could play a crucial role in helping to bridge the social, religious, and cultural divide among the people and “heal the social fabric that had been torn in situations of conflict.”
Citing Marawi City as an example, Dureza said restoring relationships in the community “is more difficult than rebuilding the physical infrastructure that was destroyed during the five-month war.”
He said media reports should support multi-stakeholder efforts that would allow just and lasting peace to firmly take root, especially in communities situated in areas of conflict.
“Your messages should help create that conducive environment.”
Dureza is not a stranger to the government peace process, having served several presidents in three decades as the government chief negotiator with the communist National Democratic Front and the two Moro revolutionary fronts.
Dureza sat down with more than 50 journalists participating in the Mindanao Media Safety and Security Summit over the weekend and organized by the Mindanao Independent Press Council. The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp) described it as “a heart-to-heart conversation between one journalist to another.”
For about two hours, Dureza listened, laughed and exchanged views with members of media coming from various parts of Mindanao on a range of issues and concerns. Dureza was a columnist of several local newspapers here for several years.
“It was a candid dialogue as the government’s top peace negotiator shared his experiences as a neophyte reporter of a local daily and then moving up as editor in chief and finally as publisher of the paper,” the Opapp said.
“Serve as beacons of free speech and champions of truth and justice,” Dureza said. “You must help create an enabling environment that is conducive to free speech,” he said.
He said “a lot of you operate in critical areas, but you have to make sure that the environment [for free speech] is there.” “Being the fourth estate, the media should not cower in fear and be easily intimidated by the forces that threaten them.”
“Should we be threatened? As journalists, we need to uphold our principles at all times,” Dureza said. “In this age of fake news, the media should be more circumspect and not to easily accept information hook, line and sinker.”
But he cautioned them “to take the necessary steps to ensure their safety, especially if their lives are in danger.” “You have to find a way to protect yourself. If not, you will be constrained in telling the truth,” he said.