RIGHTS IN CRISIS AND EMERGENCIES

Putting out wildfires: How local community patrollers address the infodemic

 

By Rawiya Usman

At the height of the community quarantine back in March 2020, people from Lanao del Sur followed health protocols in fear of contracting COVID-19. But as time passed, people began to doubt if the virus is real or if it’s just a scam by the government and media.

As the virus infected thousands of people, rumors on COVID-19 also spread like wildfire. Just as we needed something to curb the spread, the Rooted in Trust: Information as Aid project of IDEALS, in partnership with Internews, started its implementation in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

When we started holding sessions to talk to communities in Marawi City, we learned that people are letting their guard down because of the information they hear from relatives, friends, and social media — which all turned out to be dangerous rumors and misinformation. Some people in the province lessened the wearing of facemasks and some stopped disinfecting themselves when they get home.

Like stopping a wildfire, we needed to move smart and fast. We needed more hands on deck and this is when we met Normina Limbona. Normina joined our team as a community patroller.

Under the project, we do two kinds of community sessions. First, the Social Listening Sessions where we talk to community members to identify the current rumors and misinformation that proliferate online and offline. After, we hold Collective Learning Groups to address these rumors through providing and discussing localized materials.

Normina was the first community patroller to facilitate a Collective Learning Group.

“During the session, I realized how rumors affect someone’s behavior negatively and might even bring danger to their families,” Normina said. “But I also saw how they changed their perspective when they started reading the Salig Bangsamoro Rumor Bulletins.”

The Salig Bangsamoro Rumor Bulletins and the Salig Bangsamoro radio episodes aired via S’bang Ka Marawi are both published and aired in Maranao, the local language in Marawi City. These materials respond to rumors through verified facts and discussions with trusted information sources.

“Materials like these are important if we want to limit, if not control, the spread of rumors,” Normina explained.

In this infodemic, we are all bombarded with information that can be either correct or false. This is why we should all advocate to ensure that communities have increased access to correct and verified information.

For those with the means, it is quite easy to verify information. But for far-flung communities, Normina recommends to keep the direct engagements and production of local materials if we want to continue educating people and alleviating their fears.

Like firefighters, we need to be brave and work together if we want to keep our communities safe.