“Mama, how do terrorists look like?”
This is always the question of my son Kenjo whenever we watched television programs.
It is the same question raised by my nephews Darryl and Darren — sons of my youngest brother Joel.
Their questions emanated from series of anti-terrorism ads on television.
In the Philippines, maybe particularly here in Mindanao, there are series of advertisements funded and conceptualized by the USAID or United States Agency for International Development and the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program.
When Kenjo was about four years old, he will run around in fear, shouting for help soon as he heard the thriller audio of the US ads, then photos of different faces of suspected bandits flashed on tv coupled with the thrilling and fearful sounds.
When he got hold of several leaflets and flyers provided by the Joint Special Operations Task Force Philippines, a US military force based in Zamboanga City, Kenjo discovered that those faces repeatedly flashed on screen are the same faces at the leaflets.
“Is this how terrorist looks like?” was his first question then.
“Is terrorist looks like us? Are they humans?” Kenjo’s next question.
Then there’s transformation or should I say development on the US government’s anti-terrorism ads.
Flashes of diaries, journals, blood and wrecked structures were used as images for the ads that generated more fears among children including my nephews.
Then came loud sounds of blasts and voice-over of a female narrating her hopes and dreams, but terror acts snatched away all her dreams when shrapnel hit her body.
Then comes a boy using different Moro’s dialect of Mindanao as tool to communicate with the audiences and tele-viewers reaching out for mercy and help in order to crash terrorism as it has stolen his sight including his parents.
Now most of the ads, they used actors wearing Muslim garbs as either informants or grateful for Americans’ intervention such as providing them water in exchange for peace in the community.
“Mama is it right to say that terrorists are Muslims?”
This question from a five year old mind stirred my already disturbed being.
“No Kenjo, Muslims are not terrorists.”
“But why would that ads conveying something that Muslims are terrorists?”
I told Kenjo that whoever conceptualized that kind of material is not really culturally sensitive and they dont have such right to come out with ideas that way.
As a way to explain him that every ads is deceiving, I likened the ads to a shampoo.
“Look at Mama’s long hair, I keep buying this shampoo hoping to make hair shiny, but is it shining?”
“No Mama, it’s the same thick black hair but its dull.”
“So the shampoo ads is the same as that of anti-terrorism ads, very deceiving with no consideration whoever is watching the television.”
One time, my two nephews Darryl and Darren watched tv on our house along with Kenjo.
Then again this commercial flashed and my eldest nephew Darryl got so mad of something.
“What’s that? What are you two arguing there?”
Darren told his kuya Darryl to convince their father to baptize them into Christians.
“Darren said that Muslims are bad that we are terrorists.”
As you know, my brother Joel is a Muslim convert and all his sons are Islamized.
The truth is that we, the six siblings are product of inter-marriage between a Christian father and a Muslim mother.
But relationship is perfect between my parents when it comes to faith.
I am a free thinker, my next brother Delio embraced Iglesia ni Kristo though he was a Catholic, next to him Jose is a Catholic, my brother Jimmy is now planning to embrace Islam, Joel is a Balik Islam, my sister like me are free spirits.
There was no fight and violent arguments in the family regarding our spirituality.
But I observed with the disturbing ads compliments by the US government, it has started creating conflicts within my family.
My son is trying to understand the fight between his two Kuyas but as what I have explained earlier, Kenjo informed the duo that “its a deceiving ads, dont believe that, our parents know better for us.”
