The last two days of fighting in the Cotabato-Maguindanao corridor is proving to be the bloodiest so far in the nearly week-long face-of between government forces out to capture three MILF “sub-commanders” being blamed for the recent murderous rampage in several Lanao villages.
The weekend death toll is reportedly 55 dead, soldiers and civilians combined while the number of refugees has climbed to 240,000.
But what is revealing and potentially controversial is the image above. According to the Manila Times it “was released by the MILF ro select media” yesterday, August 24.The undated image, with no indication as to where it was taken, portrays armed men, alleged to be soldiers and police standing over the bodies of dead individuals said to be MILF fighters.
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The photo kinda looks like it was taken a long time ago, which explains why it’s undated. You can tell by the uniforms of the alleged soldiers and policemen.
If that’s the case, then the photo was obviously released in bad faith – a cheap shot at trying to make this “scene” look like Abu Ghraib.
That’s exactly the point I Think, Jen. I have a sense the MILF may use this image for its obvious ‘propaganda value’. Am concerned that it may become emblmatic of the conflict. But I felt I should immediately share it here at FV and it be seen in a properper and non-hysterical perspective given its sensitive nature.
Thanks for sharing this Ding. Good thing I saw it here first on FV! Thanks for keeping us posted. More power!
Ding,
I wonder if this was “photoshopped”? Take a look at the angle of the shadows under the men who are standing. The shadow curve follows the line of their formation which is not straight but sweeps forward from left to right (men to the right are closer to the camera). You would not see that in a natural photo because the sun would produce shadows all in one direction. Such a fake shadow would be necessary to merge two different photos together to obscure the boundary of pixels between them.
True or fake it is propaganda. Those who put it out have a “desired effect”. The fog of war descends and the battles will be fought now far from Mindanao as well as on it, mostly in hearts and minds.
IN a country that has been taught by its inteligentsia to loathe itself as colonial minded surrenderees to the hated West, the terrorists have a big advantage here, playing on violins of victimology while they plot murder and mayhem.
We are on the same page, DJB. Am in touch with other journalist friends on this, as well, given what I think the hardliners and hawks in the MILF and other sectors will do. Sen. Drilon is already belatedly warning about the conflict’s “internationalization”. This has already happened, you will agree and the emotional shock value of the photo, genuine or ‘photo-shopped’ as conjectured, is something that needs to be manage well, by Malacanang, in particular given that yesterday, Sec. Dureza was quoted as rejection Murad’s call for a “cessation” of the military operations. I Sense the MILF is feeling the pressure greatly and needs to re-assess its situation, hence the call for a ‘time-out’.
The MILF posturings aside, it will not be surprising if doves do being calling for a truce, not to mention groups like Amnesty International and the local peace and human rights advocates like Karapatan. You also have the Commission on Human Right with its lady Chair seen as having a militant bent.The landscape is becoming more complicated on the eve of the Supreme Court session.
I’m afraid “peace” is out of the question for a while, no matter what the Court does, which will probably be to declare the petitions moot and academic. We should hear the stock arguments about the Supreme Court not giving “advisory opinions” and how it may be a political question. That will surely embolden the Palace and the rebels as it only proves what an inutile and self-contradictory State the GRP is. They will claim, like the case on IPRA, that it’s actually a vote FOR the MOA. I expect to see a lot more investigative reporting on the Supreme Court itself and the billions in bribes and concessions it is allegedly involved with.
The Court has a lot on its plate. But I doubt it has the moral stamina and intellectual integrity to do the right things. Davide, and before him, Marcos, made sure of that.
Ding: The photo exhibit by the MILF is very clear that it is planted. Yes, upon seeing the different angles of this photos. Perhaps they are hopeless & failure that is why they presented this photos to the media to foster block propaganda.
What is their intention, to decieve the people so that they can gain sympathy? Absolutely…….
Errr, even if the military did kill those men, so what? Casualties are part of any war. Is the MILF trying to portray the military as cold-blooded murderers?
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I agree with the photo being dated — this can be as far as from the late 90s. The brown uniforms appear to come from a time when the PNP was transitioning from all-brown uniforms to the more current dark blue/black/brown camo work (uniform worn by man standing second from the right).
All paramilitary PNP uniforms today either follow that dark blue/black/brown camo or a dark green/dark grey/black version which is not used as often.