‘Marawi Siege: Stories from the Front Lines’ nominated for international book award

Filipino journalist Carmela Fonbuena’s book on the 2017 siege of Marawi City was nominated for the inaugural Witold Pilecki International Book Award, one of five titles picked by an award committee for a special prize for war correspondents. 

The award was organized by the Pilecki Institute in Poland. The special prize for war correspondents recognizes books that provide reliable information concerning ongoing military conflicts or places where human dignity is particularly endangered. 

Fonbuena’s fellow nominees authored books on sexual violence against women in war zones, the struggles of refugees seeking freedom, the history of the Rohingya tragedy, and territorial conflict between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir region.

“We aim to recognize the significance of the universal message stemming from the experience of the 20th-century totalitarianisms. We wish to acknowledge texts which promote the fundamental values of human dignity, striving for the truth, willingness to sacrifice, and solidarity with the persecuted,” the Pilecki Institute said in a statement announcing the nominees. 

Fonbuena was among the first journalists on the scene in Marawi after sympathizers of the Islamic State laid siege on the city on May 23, 2017, prompting President Rodrigo Duturte’s declaration of martial law in the region. Fonbuena led news website Rappler’s coverage of the historic battle. She has since joined the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. (WATCH: Documentary | Marawi: 153 days of war)

Her book, Marawi Siege: Stories from the Front Lines, documents key events during the five-month battles based on the narratives of military officers, hostages, displaced civilians, local government officials, Maute Group fighters who left the fold, and leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. 

Fonbuena’s book “dispels the fog of war” and “provides context to the war,” said Marites Dañguilan Vitug, chairman of Journalism for Nation Building Foundation, which published the book. 

“Marawi Siege provides the context to this war, showing us that what happened in Marawi is a symptom of a deeper malaise. It was not an isolated case. Change Marawi to Basilan, Sulu, or Zamboanga. The terrorist groups were militarily defeated, but the intractable problems that they have capitalized on continue to plague not only Marawi but other parts of Mindanao: poverty, inequity, discrimination against Muslims, and intolerance,” Vitug said. 

The award was named after Witold Pilecki, a Polish soldier and resistance fighter during World War II, who allowed himself to be captured by occupying Germans to infiltrate the Auschwitz concentration camp. He spent two and a half years as a prisoner, smuggling out information about the conditions and abuses in the concentration camp to the resistance outside. 

Pilecki’s story is documented in the book The Volunteer: One Man, an Underground Army, and the Secret Mission to Destroy Auschwitz by former war correspondent Jack Fairweather. 

Two awards will be given to the best academic history book and the best historical reportage on the Polish experience with two 20th century totalitarian regimes. 

The winners will be announced during a formal gala to be held in Warsaw on November 17, 2021. 

Fonbuena’s book is sold in Fullybooked branches nationwide. It is also available on Kindle. – Rappler.com