Unmasking Propaganda
"PROPAGANDA", truth or lie?
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, propaganda are ideas or statements that are OFTEN FALSE OR EXAGGERATED and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc. For 49 years now, the CPP-NPA-NDF or what we now consider as Communist-NPA-Terrorists (CNTs), have been bombarding this country with their “PROPAGANDA”, unfortunately, though lies, people perceived as truths.
Over the years, we have seen the same tactics from the government’s biggest critics being employed over and over again. No matter who is in the position, they always criticize, proliferate propaganda, organize mass actions against the government, and then repeat. From the Marcos regime up to the Duterte administration, the CNTs seem to have the same set of issues being raised through rallies and demonstrations that mostly end up violently; through press releases that are mostly exaggerated, and through biased fact-finding missions sponsored by their allied human rights advocates.
'Mapang-abuso at reaksyonaryong gobyerno', 'Education not Militarization', 'Tuta ng Kano'... these and more are some of the issues being thrown against the government and its forces in rallies in the streets, especially during red-letter dates, wherein protesters display slogans, placards, and effigy which the protesters usually burn. Some of the protesters, when interviewed, did not even know the real reason why they are having a demonstration. Some even admitted that they only joined the rally because they are being compensated with money and oftentimes, a sack of rice. They are blinded by the false information and the false hopes fed to them through the propaganda that the CNT has proliferated to the masses.
As what Gil Courtmanche said, “propaganda is as powerful as heroin; it surreptitiously dissolves all capacity to think.” The propaganda that they have absorbed from the left have fixed their minds that the government is fascist and a puppet of the US regime. It has created blinders for the masses, making them to focus only on the negative sides that are happening in the society.
In far-flung communities, people often hear about the propaganda of the CNT about militarization. They capitalize on the deployment of the troops in the barangays conducting Community Support Programs, immersions and the presence of the soldiers and interpret it as militarization.
During legitimate combat operations that result of encounters wherein CNTs are either killed or captured, left-leaning organizations quickly mobilize their members to conduct fact-finding missions and hastily declare that the killed or captured CNTs were just ordinary farmers who happened to be present in the area during the armed encounter.
Now the question is, how can we make the people realize that the issues are merely propaganda that aims to destroy the image of the government and its forces?
Line units identify the prevailing issues and the possible issues that may arise in their respective area of operations. Through this method, they can predetermine the propaganda that the CNT can use in their respective area of operations. CMO sections of the battalions in the field would develop in advance products which can be disseminated when certain situations arise. In this manner, the products will come in handy whenever the commander or the CMO officer sees an opportunity to disseminate the products.
Another thing that the we are doing to counter the propaganda of the left is by dominating the information environment through social media. During our Social Media Operations Module, the lecturer had imparted that in propaganda warfare, both the government forces and the CNTs have equal opportunities to present their products to their audiences in a “stage”, which refers to social media. According to a report by London-based consultancy We Are Social, sixty-seven million people are internet users in the country and all of them have individual Facebook accounts. Capitalizing on how Facebook affects the opinions of people, we can maximize the use of social media as a platform to discredit the propaganda that the CNTs and their allies proliferate in social media.
The rise of social media has been a game changer in the propaganda warfare. The AFP has made tremendous effort in maximizing the dissemination of products to the large number of target audience in social media through the various Facebook pages, set up and maintained by the different AFP units. Credible information that are being provided for the general public have built the image of the AFP, thereby gaining the trust and confidence of the people. Our efforts in social media ensures that we are one step ahead in dominating the information environment.
There are two ways to counter the CNT's propaganda that must be done simultaneously, CMO officers on the ground must initiate all applicable activities that will weaken the influence of the enemy in their respective areas and maximize the use of social media in disseminating facts.
