Violence in ARMM

I write to you in regards to two articles posted on Aug. 14, 2014 by the Philippine STAR that were written by Ted Torres, entitled “Violence in ARMM: Highest number recorded in Maguindanao” and John Unson entitled “ARMM execs belie report on Maguindanao political violence.”  The authors inadequately and inaccurately cite data from a conflict report entitled Rebellion, Political Violence, and Shadow Crimes in the Bangsamoro: The Bangsamoro Conflict Monitoring System (2011-2013), published by International Alert UK-Philippines Office.

We are deeply concerned about the actual and potential misunderstanding that these news reports have generated among various stakeholders in Muslim Mindanao. We believe that the misreading of the data has in fact provoked the negative reactions among ARMM executives cited in the Unson article.

There are at least four critical mistakes in the articles:

1. Both the Torres and Unson articles headline the number of violent incidents, without explaining the per-capita and per-kilometer incidence of conflict—which the BCMS report underscored.  Basilan is a more serious concern in terms of per-capita and per-kilometer incidence of conflict.  However, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, and Maguindanao have also demonstrated a decline in violent incidents from 2011-2013.

2.  The Unson article attributes the human costs of conflict singularly to Maguindanao—when these are actually a composite of human costs across the entire region, and a combination of incidents of death, injury, kidnapped, and trafficked persons. The quoted figure of 862 deaths wrongly attributed to Maguindanao also covers the three-year period across the ARMM, instead of two years as cited in the article.

3.  The Unson article implies that the report contradicts the records of the GPH-MILF Joint Ceasefire Committee about a significant decline in rebellion-related hostilities.  In fact, the report reinforces the Ceasefire Committee’s conclusion! There are tables and charts indicating the decline in vertical conflict attributed to rebel groups, particularly the MILF. The report further explains that violent conflict in the ARMM has to do more with clan feuding and violent rivalries among rebel factions, including the shadow economy in guns, drugs, and kidnap for ransom perpetrated by organized crime and private armed groups.

4.  The Unson article gives the impression that Alert is discrediting conflict mitigation and transformation work being done on the ground by LGUs and the security forces.  On the contrary, we did emphasize in our policy implications section the crucial and innovative conflict mitigation and transformation work of Mindanao-based stakeholders. We even cited the various NGOs undertaking important work on clan feuding. We do hope that the BCMS data base fills the gap in dynamic, real-time data sets that track conflict incidence, typology, cause, actors, and effects in a publicly accessible manner.  The system is user-friendly enabling development practitioners and peace building actors to identify where, when, and how resources can be targeted and to understand the conflict effects of development initiatives.

Finally, the data presented is not raw—validation and triangulation has been undertaken with local experts in the past 11 months. Also, the data uses reliable, timely conflict data generated from official police blotter reports and credible media reports. Moreover, there are strict quality control features and validation mechanisms embedded in the system.

We may argue that the data is limited by the under-reporting of crimes to the police and media. Nevertheless, the data gathered is robust enough to make insightful findings and conclusions. Alert intends to work towards harmonizing the database with other reports gathered by the military, the DSWD, and other local and international agencies in the future. Alert Philippines will be presenting the results and clarifying issues raised when it launches the BCMS 2011-2013 report in Cotabato City in early September.

(The BCMS public launch in Mindanao will be held in Cotabato City in the 1st week of September.  Interested parties may get in touch with Ever Abasolo at [email protected]). —FRANCISCO LARA, Philippines Country Manager, International Alert UK