The Philippines faces an adversary in its fight over its claims to parts of the South China Sea: an organization of its own citizens who brazenly speak out and echo pro-Beijing narratives.
“We assumed there had been a Chinese data operation [in the Philippines]. They work all over the world. But we started to get alarmed when we saw that there were Filipinos repeating the Chinese narrative,” Jonathan Malaya, deputy director general of the National Security Council (NSC), said in an interview with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).
Only this year did the NSC publicly declare the lifestyles of China’s “operators” or “proxies” that undermine the country’s claims in the West Philippine Sea. This echoes considerations raised against Beijing’s alleged disinformation campaigns in other parts of the world.
There is no indication that pro-Beijing rhetoric is gaining traction in the country that was once colonized through the United States. But they anger security officials, who worry that the rest of the Filipinos, who like to use social media and have shown themselves vulnerable to misinformation, Beijing’s narratives can simply get carried away if they are denounced and corrected.
Some government officials have publicly criticized those groups. Others like to inform themselves privately about news agencies by giving them space in their broadcasts and publications.
This is a small group. Small but noisy. . . They could influence other people, so it is our duty to continually oppose and provide the genuine facts and establish the law, because we don’t need our other people to be deceived. — Antonio Carpio, retired senior associate justice of the Supreme Court
Malaysia said the government had largely ignored its duties, but that the security risk had increased when such equipment appeared to be helping Chinese embassy officials harm national interests on Philippine soil.
Some teams have objected to the government’s accusations, citing freedom of expression.
The government will struggle to achieve any measures that could limit public opinion on social media, but it is vital to rectify those lies, retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio told ICCJ.
“They (Filipinos echoing pro-Beijing narratives) are definitely a small bunch. Small but noisy. . . They may simply influence other people, so it is our duty to frequently oppose and provide the genuine facts and establish the law, because “We don’t need our other peoples to be deceived,” said Carpio, who has become one of the country’s leaders. The most committed advocates of the country’s claims in the West Philippine Sea, traveling around the provinces to give educational briefings.
Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela lashed out at anonymous Facebook pages that gave the impression of protecting China in August, when the Philippines protested unsafe maneuvers by the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) opposing a Philippine resupply project to the Second Thomas. .
He called them “traitors” and “unpatriotic. “
“If you are a Filipino, whether in government or in the personal sector, whatever your politics, protecting and making excuses for China’s competitive habit deems you unpatriotic and a traitor to the Philippines and our people,” Tarriela said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
A CCG sent water cannons against wooden-hulled ships ordered through the Philippine Navy, blocking the resupply project of the BRP Sierra Madre, a Navy shipment stranded where a handful of sailors are stationed in the country’s claims to the area.
According to the crew, the attack could have sunk the ships had it been for the captain’s ability to evade Chinese maneuvers.
“Mental conditioning or long-term false flag to start the US war in Asia after Ukraine?” — IDSI Facebook post
China’s aggression has sparked protests. China’s Foreign Ministry, however, said “the maneuvers were professional, restrained and above reproach. “
A few days after the water cannon attack, local Facebook pages posted a drone video showing the GCC sending the state away from one of the Philippine ships as it fired the water cannon, hitting only the waters between them.
The Facebook page of the Institute for Integral Development Studies (IDSI), a think tank led by Philippine tycoon George Siy, is among those that have boosted Beijing’s rhetoric. The IDSI scoffed at the description of the incident made by the “Western media. “or a long-term false flag to lead the United States into the war in Asia after Ukraine,” the IDSI message adds.
And the source of the IDSI drone video gave the impression of being CCG’s own video, posted a day earlier on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Malaysia showed CPJI that IDSI’s Facebook page was one of those that had caught the government’s attention.
Reportedly, the NSC kept forgetting about those messages, he said, but the risk assessment was superseded when the organization later invited Chinese embassy officials to a press conference aimed at undermining the Philippines’ claims.
The same press conference prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to learn about the government’s reaction to Beijing’s disinformation.
IDSI has denied the government’s allegations. He said he is not yet pro-China, “pro-Philippines and pro-peace. “
IDSI’s research coordinator, Austin Ong, told the PCIJ that the organization had “been concerned about activities critical toward China. “The PCIJ has asked him about these activities, but he has not yet responded.
Philippine officials’ public complaint against China marks the country’s move away from former President Rodrigo Duterte’s friendly attitude toward the regional superpower. Malaysia said the year-old Marcos administration had placed the 2016 arbitration ruling that nullified China’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea at the center of its foreign policy.
It will be difficult for Beijing to win the sympathy of Filipinos, who have consistently expressed disagreement with China in polls over the years. By contrast, the U. S. enjoyed maximum acceptance with ratings even under Duterte’s presidency.
The IDSI publication itself generated a lot of engagement. At the time of writing, the video has been viewed 731 times and shared through only 8 accounts.
But Beijing’s rhetoric is making its way into national conversations. In a press conference, the team of Philippine Navy ships were asked to comment on claims that they had been injured in the water cannon attack.
Lieutenant Ramsey Gutierrez, who was aboard one of the vessels, seemed surprised by the question. “Natamaan talaga kami lord (We were moved, sir),” he said at the press conference. He told how the food materials they were carrying were wet.
A few days later, Herman Tiu Laurel, president of the Philippine Institute for Asian Century Strategic Studies (ACPSSI), defended China’s use of water cannons on television, calling it “benign. “
“It’s just a spray,” Laurel said in an interview with One News television, insisting that China only exercises “sovereignty over the region. “
“The use of water is not lethal,” he added, echoing China’s claims that it has allowed the other ship to reach the sandbar for “humanitarian” reasons.
Malaya said ACPSSI was another organization they were following to spread pro-Beijing propaganda.
“For a long time, those organizations have been mouthpieces for Chinese discourse. However, it is exactly because we have freedom of expression in the Philippines,” Malaya said.
IDSI and ACPSSI have already amplified Chinese narratives about politics, media, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the West in the Philippines.
In 2021, as the world pressured China to cooperate in investigations into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, CAISIP and IDSI filed online petitions urging the World Health Organization to investigate a military base in the United States, Fort Detrick in Maryland, as the origin of the pandemic. the pandemic. of the virus. Covid-19 first appeared in China’s Wuhan province.
The story that the Covid-19 virus was created and leaked from US military facilities was widely circulated among Russian and Chinese officials and state media, even though the theory had been debunked by study teamsArray The Foreign Ministry of China cited ACPSS’s Laurel in an article. of her public statements.
Security officials also recalled a press conference in October 2022, when ACPSSI met with other Filipinos at Kamuning Bakery Cafe in Quezon City for an online forum on the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Filipinos praised China’s “political stability and economic growth. “” and respect for the rule of law, as well as President Xi Jinping’s “clarity of vision, project and political orientation. “
“I don’t mind being like China because so many other people around the world need to be connected to China. “Herman Tiu Laurel, President of the Philippine Institute for Asian Century Strategic Studies (ACPSSI)
“I don’t mind being similar to China because so many other people around the world need to be connected to China,” Laurel told CPJI in an interview.
“China is getting content from us. We get it from them too,” he said, adding that he also uses Russian and Iranian state media as sources.
Laurel said he and his organization were friends of the Chinese embassy but got budget from Beijing. He was grateful to be relevant to Beijing because he “supports everything similar to China’s comprehensive vision,” he said.
Laurel retained his rights to Fort Detrick.
They intend to sign on in their organizations with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he said.
“As a democracy, we are used to dissent,” Malaya said. “Even in the days of President Duterte, everyone was free. People can say whatever they want. . . But we started to get alarmed when we saw that. There were Filipinos repeating the Chinese narrative. “
“And then there were press meetings called to undermine the Philippines’ position and then the script clearly comes from Beijing. Doon kami na alarm (That’s when we became alarmed),” he said.
Following Tarriela’s outburst against “traitors” in August, Anna Malindog-Uy, vice president of the ACPSSI, said that members of the government “should be open to discussion and debate to publicize and find a not unusual space among other matters of opinion. ” and perspectives.
“This doesn’t oversimplify a complex, confusing and critical regional issue, but it also undermines the democratic values our societies value, such as freedom of expression,” he added in a Facebook post.
Laurel also weighed in on the issue: the NSC’s reaction showed the weakness of its anti-China rhetoric.
“The fact that the national security status quo reacts in this fascist way to the mere dissemination of data contrary to its official tensions, the pro-war narrative supported by the U. S. and the few vassal allies shows that its narrative is weak, fragile. , and fragile, easily cracked by light fact-checking and validity,” Laurel said in a remark posted on the ACPSSI website on Aug. 24.
China’s influence operations can be insidious, according to Rommel Jude Ong, a retired Philippine Navy rear admiral.
“This is a subversion of democracy,” he said, without naming the organizations he monitors. “They use the freedoms to which each and every citizen is entitled in the country and they use those freedoms to assign the interests of some other country, to the detriment of ours. “
China’s operations are aimed at “convincing national and local political elites to adhere” to the perspectives and policies of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. The purpose is to “divide” and influence Filipinos, he said.
In Malaysia, some of Beijing’s “model” narratives stand out.
“There are telltale signs. ” It’s a global festival of strength between two wonderful nations. The Philippines should not be in the middle. ” They call us warmongers. . . Obviously, this is part of Chinese propaganda. And it’s just a shame that there are Filipinos. repeating those lines,” he said.
What we do or don’t do has an impact on our collective security and the security of our maritime zones. —Former military leader Emmanuel Bautista
Former Philippine army leader Emmanuel Bautista called for a “whole-of-society approach” because “the scope of the festival is limited to maritime areas. “
“All sectors of society have a role to play,” he said. In the “cognitive realm,” he said, the media can inform the population about issues similar to the West Philippine Sea and citizens can “simply express their views” in favor of the Philippines’ claims.
“The important thing is that we have a common understanding of security. What we do or don’t do will have an effect on our collective security and the security of our maritime areas,” Bautista said.
The furor within the security status quo intensified when IDSI and ACPSSI figures called a press conference in Manila to discuss Ayungin Shoal.
In the presence of China’s deputy chief of mission Zhou Zhiyong, they echoed the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s assertion that the Philippines had promised the BRP Sierra Madre from the bench.
The convention took a stand after Malacañang posted a video of Marcos denying such a plan or intention.
“I am aware of any such arrangement or agreement. . . And let me go further: if there is such an agreement, I will terminate it now,” Marcos said laconically on August 9.
The Philippine Navy intentionally ran the ship aground on Ayungin Reef in 1999, which is located in the disputed Spratly Islands, in reaction to China’s profession of nearby Mischief Reef.
Malaysia said it was vital the public was informed about such “influence operations”, warning that they were all part of Beijing’s “creeping encroachment”.
“Once you are aware of this, you will be able to make better decisions or make informed decisions, because socio-cultural team spirit is what characterizes the Philippines. “—NSC Deputy Director General, Jonathan Malaya
“Once you’ve achieved that, you’ll be able to make more important or informed decisions because the socio-cultural team spirit of the Philippines is important,” he said.
“We want the public to fight against a developing superpower. If we don’t have publicArray, we won’t be able to make our case firmly,” he added.
Carpio, for his part, suggested that Congress also pass a law that will require other people to lobby for a foreign state to sign with the government.
“So we know if they receive cash for a foreign state. We will not prevent them from expressing their opinions because that implies freedom of expression. But as soon as they sign up, we know where they’re coming from,” said the former SC. The associate justice said.
At the same time, he said the Philippines deserves to continue to denounce and correct these lies. “We just tell other people the facts and other people will believe us. Possibly they won’t believe them, because it’s obviously a lie from a foreign force that needs to take over our territory and maritime areas. “
Carpio said the biggest misinformation spread through China and its supporters is that it owns the entire South China Sea.
“This was totally discredited by the arbitration procedure. The court said there was no ancient basis for this,” he said. “We just need to provide the facts as we are doing now. “
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