Letter to the editor
Jumabok Kadyawan
Spokesperson
Antonio Nerio Antao Command
New People's Army Southern Mindanao
September 30, 2002 MS. LETICIA JIMENEZ-MAGSANOC
Editor-in-chief
Philippine Daily Inquirer
ATTN: Mr. Nico Alconaba
Bureau Chief, Inquirer Mindanao
Dear Sir, Madam:
In the interest of truth, may we call your attention to the story your Davao Oriental correspondent, Ferdinand Zuasola, has made up about me and my organization. It appeared on Page A14 in the Philippine Daily Inquirer today, September 30, 2002.
First, I have never met Zuasola in my life and I have no intention of meeting him. He claimed that an interview took place in Boston, Davao Oriental, and that I made statements about the recent tactical offensive in Maco, Compostela Valley Province. This is a blatant lie. No such interview took place.
Contrary to what Zuasola wrote, I am not the spokesman of the New People's Army's Rhyme Petalcorin Command. Indicating the sloppy brand of journalism that Zuasola seems to practice, he not only misspelled my name -- he also gave the impression that it was the RPC that overran the Maco municipal police station. He could have checked the fact that a few days after the Maco raid, the Merardo Arce Command issued an official statement commending the NPA's 3rd Pulang Bagani Company for the successful raid. In short, I was in no position to comment on the Maco raid and, hence, could not possibly have talked about it with Zuasola who, I must point out again, I have never met in my life.
Second, the New People's Army in Davao Oriental and for that matter in the whole archipelago strictly adheres to its recruitment policy, which requires that only those at least 18 years can become combatants. And yes, all NPAs are trained not only to be "young and idealistic" but, more importantly, to be always true to the people and to serve the masses with their whole heart and their whole mind. Nobody ever grows old in the revolution.
Zuasola attributed a quote to me about the NPA's reliance on young recruits. This quote is not just a fabrication -- it also misses the point entirely. To say that it was these "NPA minors" who overran the aging Maco police force is Zuasola's imagination running wild. He should be a fiction writer, not a journalist.
Mere muscle alone will not ensure victory in battle. It would help this reporter to learn that one of the crucial keys to victory is "concrete investigation of concrete conditions." And to paraphrase what I can assume is PDI's lesson to amateur news reporter such as Zuasola, good stories depend on facts, facts, facts.
This is not the first time that Zuasola has fabricated news reports about the revolutionary movement. We have particularly taken note of previous erroneous and biased stories he had written concerning revolutionary taxation. This time he has gone too blatant and too far.
We don't know for whom Zuasola writes but writing false stories is the worst thing that any journalist can do to prostitute his profession. He does not belong in the Philippine Daily Inquirer -- he belongs in the dustbin of journalism.
JUMABOK KADYAWAN
Spokesperson
Antonio Nerio Antao Command
New People's Army Southern Mindanao
Copy furnished:
Ferdinand Zuasola
Inquirer Mindanao
Atty. Raul Palabrica
PDI Reader's Advocate
Pergentino Bandayrel Jr.
National Editor
Luis Teodoro
Editor
Philippine Journalism Review
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