کد خبر: ۱۲۸۵۷۱۷

تاریخ: ۱۹ شهريور ۱۳۹۲ - ۱۱:۳۵

Filipino Bill Bans Anti-Muslim Media Bias

Rejecting media bias against the Muslim minority, a Filipino lawmaker has proposed a new bill to prohibit the mention of religious or ethnic affiliation in media reports of criminal suspects.

"It may be said that there is already the practice in media of labeling criminal suspects according to their religious or ethnic culture," Pangalian Balindong, Rep. of Lanao del Sur 2nd District, told Inquirer.net on Sunday, September 8.

“Thus they are described as Muslim terrorists or Muslim bandits which smacks of being highly discriminatory.”

In a statement released Sunday, Balindong said he filed House Bill 1447 to prohibit the use of the words “Muslim” and “Christian” to describe suspects of unlawful acts.

He added that the manner of reporting from media entities has become offensively biased even if the suspect has yet to be proven guilty.

The bill also prohibits any person to use in mass media any word that would denote religious, regional or ethnic affiliation to describe any person suspected of or convicted for having committed criminal or unlawful acts.

Balindong warned that such labels were affecting the Muslim minority.

“Why then is our media doing the same to our Muslim countrymen?" Balindong asked.

“Indeed, our Muslim brothers are a minority among the Filipino majority, but should be treated with the same respect and privileges as any other Batangueño, Visayan or other Filipino citizen,” he added.

The person found guilty of this will face imprisonment of not less than six months or a fine of not more than P10,000 or both at the discretion of the courts.

If the violator is the editor-in-chief in the case of print media and the news editor in the case of broadcast media and other forms of mass media, a fine of not lower than P50,000 shall be imposed.

If a juridical entity is a violator of this Act, a fine not lower than P50,000 shall be imposed for every violation and the penalties shall be doubled for the second and succeeding offenses as provided under the bill.

Muslims make up nearly 8 percent of the total populace in the Philippines, which Islam reached in the 13th century about 200 years before Christianity.

Mindanao, the birthplace of Islam in the Philippines, is home to more than 5 million Muslims.

The mineral-rich southern region has been the scene of a decades-long conflict to establish a Muslim homeland.

More than 120,000 people have been killed since the conflict erupted in the late 1960s.

Last October, the Philippine government unveiled a peace deal with MILF, the country’s largest Muslim group, to establish a Muslim homeland in the south.

The new region will be called Bangsamoro -- the term for those who are native to the region.

It is expected to include five provinces under the existing autonomous region plus parts of Lanao del Norte and North Cotabato provinces.

Source: On Islam