BAYI-LINES | Why journalism must continue, and why healing must be part of its practice
PAGADIAN CITY (MindaNews / 16 March) — The sea breeze carried a quiet calm across the Island Garden City of Samal as women journalists from across Mindanao gathered for three days of safety awareness and trauma healing. From March 1 to 3, 2026, the retreat became more than a training —it was a sanctuary.
Organized under the BAYI-LINES Safety Training Series of the Media Impact Philippines project, implemented by the Mindanao Institute of Journalism (MindaNews) with International Media Support (IMS), the retreat offered space to pause, reconnect, and restore.
Among the facilitators, Vina Araneta-Pilapil guided participants through “The Assignments That Stayed,” a session that asked a piercing question: Which story changed me?
As a journalist, the answer was immediate, recalling a 2018 assignment in Zamboanga del Sur, where a child enrolled in a last-mile school died of severe malnutrition. The tragedy was not just about hunger — it was about neglect.
That story broke me open, I reflected.
It forced me to confront why communities were excluded from government programs they deserved, and how funds meant for social services were siphoned off by officials and their cohorts. I realized journalism must be a bridge —connecting the voiceless to the accountability they are owed.
The retreat unfolded in layers: arrival, dialogue, testimony, introspection. Each stage allowed participants to peel back the armor they had built over years of reporting in conflict zones, disaster sites, and neglected communities.
Stories of resilience emerged alongside grief. Some spoke of covering armed clashes, others of documenting displacement, and still others of the quiet violence of poverty. Each narrative carried the imprint of trauma, but also the seed of advocacy.
What made the retreat transformative was not only the structured dialogue but the collective recognition that healing is part of the craft. Journalism in Mindanao has always been more than just headlines — it is about bearing witness to systemic failures and human suffering.
In Samal, women journalists found strength in solidarity. They shared not only the stories that haunted them but also the ways they had carried on: through resilience, through community, through the stubborn belief that telling the truth matters.
As the retreat closed, participants left with a renewed commitment—not just to their profession, but to themselves. They carried forward the understanding that resilience is not built alone, but together.
The child in Zamboanga del Sur, the neglected communities, the stories that stayed — these memories will never fade. But in the Garden City of Samal, they were reframed: not as burdens to carry alone, but as collective calls to action, reminders of why journalism must continue, and why healing must be part of its practice.
(Leah D. Agonoy is a news correspondent for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, based in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur. She covers the Zamboanga Peninsula and neighboring Misamis Occidental, covering politics, environment, education, health, security, and regional affairs).
[BAYI-LINES is part of the Safety Training Series of the Media Impact Philippines project implemented by the Mindanao Institute of Journalism (MinJourn), publisher of MindaNews, in partnership with the International Media Support (IMS) with funding from the European Union and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.]
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