GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- The local business chamber here appealed Tuesday for "sober media" reporting, stressing that Monday's massacre should not be sweepingly attributed to the whole Mindanao Island.

The chamber issued the statement for fear the incident in Maguindanao province would further pull down the investment potentials of the whole southern Philippines.

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For decades, image problems have hounded Mindanao, largely brought about by the rebellion waged by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for a separatist Islamic state.

The Moro rebellion has been contained in a small pocket of Mindanao, including Maguindanao where at least 22 people were reported killed on Monday, including more than a dozen members of the media.

The Maguindanao butchery was the worst single event to happen in recent decades of memory in Mindanao and the rest of the country, in terms of political rivalry.

Pilar T. Afuang, executive director of the city's business chamber, asked the national media not to portray the Maguindanao massacre as Mindanao-wide.

"It is an isolated event; media should be specific in their reporting. Maguindanao is not Mindanao," Afuang said.

This city is about two-hour drive away from the town of Ampatuan, where the victims were seized allegedly by the followers of the influential Ampatuan clan.

Afuang recalled that on Monday night, a major national television program, whom she did not identify, aired the incident as "Killing in Mindanao."

"We totally abhor such generalized and insensitive reportings," Afuang said.

Ma. Lourdes D. Lim, director of the National Economic and Development Authority in southern Mindanao, expressed fears the media treatment of the Maguindanao massacre would negate the gains made to improve the perception on Mindanao.

"The entire Mindanao is not on fire," she asserted, noting the rest of Mindanao have been enjoying a stable peace and order condition.