I Care for Bangsamoro Movement: Muslim Discrimination
PHILIPPINES—The explosion in Davao City, which killed 14 people and left 60 injured in a night market last September 2, 2016 (Friday), caused President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a “State of Lawless Violence” on Saturday, September 3.
Netizens rectified a viral photo on Facebook last September 7, 2016 (Wednesday), posted by an NGO (non-government organization) page named “I Care for Bangsamoro Movement”, showing an alleged discrimination against Muslims as they were being illegally searched on the enforcement of the State of Lawlessness declared by the president.
Photo courtesy of Inquirer.net
A group of Muslims being searched by two armed men from NBI
The caption stated:
“ILLEGAL SEARCH and DISCRIMINATION? Dahil sa State of Lawless Violence na deneklara ni #Duterte kasunod ng pagsabog ng bomba sa Davao City, madalas mga Muslims ang biktima ng mga panaabuso sa karapatan pangtao. Ayon sa batas, bawal kapkapan ang tao kung walang search warrant mula sa Korte. Maliban lang kung ito ay voluntary nagpakapkap, actual na gumawa ng krimen at nahuli, o kaya papasok sa mga private building tulad ng mall. Sana malaman ito ni General Bato para masabihan ang mga pulis na umaabuso. Di natukoy saan kalsada o lugar kinapkapan ng mga pulis ang mga Tablegh at kung ano ang dahilan ng illegal search."
(IN ENGLISH: Illegal Search and Discrimination? Because of the State of Lawless violence that was declared by President Duterte after the bombing in Davao City, Muslims are the main victims of abuse in terms of human rights. According to the law, body searching is illegal without a search warrant from the Court except if the act was voluntary, a crime which was caught in the act or when a person is to enter a private building or a mall. We hope that General Bato Dela Rosa will be informed. The place of the said incident and the reason of the illegal search were still unknown.)
The post became viral on the social media site and has gained various reactions from netizens.
However, at 10:43 PM of the same day, the administrator of the said page cited that the photo in the viral post was not yet confirmed and they were currently in the process of verifying it.
This statement was followed up with a comment by a netizen named Maira Mauntol Alip who helped to clarify the original source of the photo:
(IN ENGLISH: SalamoAlaykom (Peace be unto you). Two of the persons in the photo are my childhood friends and one from the far left side is my uncle. As of now, we’re unable to know the real story behind the photo because I haven’t talked to anyone of them yet with regard to this matter. Tomorrow, Inshaa Allah (if Allah wills it) that we will be able to get a word from them, I will keep you updated. Shukran.)
The following day, September 8, 2016 (Thursday), Alip posted a photo comment about the story behind the picture.
(IN ENGLISH: SALAAM… This did not happen under Duterte’s Administration. This is an old photo. It was Friday when our brothers were about to go home 3 days after they have been to Bagong Silang. There was a raid at that place during that time, and they had an encounter with the NBI agents on their way home. According to our brothers, the armed men asked for permission to search them and our brothers complied and gave their consent. In the end, everything was okay and no one from our brothers were hurt. The one from the far side is my uncle and two of the men in the picture are my childhood friends. Shukran.)
The Quintessence did an extensive research towards the matter, and was able to confirm that the photo was taken 3 years ago by Marianne Bermudez, a photojournalist from the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The viral photo, posted on the I Care for Bangsamoro Movement Facebook page, was taken from inquirer.net which is in connection with a drug raid in Caloocan City on December 6, 2013, wherein head agent Dave Segunial and his 30-member team from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) went to King Arthur Street, Barangay 188 in Tala, Caloocan City to serve a search warrant on the suspected drug lord Aslani Romuroz Macadatu.
The story of Alip was aligned to what originally happened based from the news article of the Philippine Daily Inquirer about the NBI raid that happened in Barangay 188, Bagong Silang, Caloocan City last December 6, 2013.
The Quintessence also tried to get in touch with the administrator of the Facebook page to confirm and to have an update about their source of the story, stating that there is a Muslim discrimination because of the bombing in Davao City.
Their reply was able to confirm that the photo that was used was old; however, they were unable to name their source--a different Facebook page.
The series of threat that happened to our country these past months, in relation to the war of Duterte’s administration against illegal drugs, had led to a lot of killings from gunmen and even suicide bombers who were suspected to be members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). This might have triggered the netizens, especially from the Muslim community, to react and repost the said photo which went viral on social media. —The Quintessence