To fight Chinese trolls, keep telling the truth—PCG

MANILA, Philippines — It does not matter how many trolls China hires to spread its false narrative on the West Philippine Sea, said Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commodore Jay Tarriela on Monday.

Tarriela, who serves as PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) matters, addressed members of the media during a seminar on reportage of the disputed waters.

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“Since we started this transparency from February until now, the mere fact that the Chinese government is intensifying information operations, that means we are very effective,” Tarriela told members of the media.

“No matter how many trolls they hire, as long as we are going to keep going to tell the truth, or just going to expose the lies and illegal actions of the People’s Republic of China, it doesn’t matter. Our approach will still be the same thing: spread the truth, tell it correctly, and never tell a lie,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

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Shifting narrative

However, National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said that while the Philippines is doing well in countering the defeatist attitude, China’s shifting narrative over the West Philippine Sea poses a challenge amid an ongoing information warfare.

“They see there are so many countries expressing support and when we have an international coalition technically implementing the arbitral ruling, that is a threat to them. So they are trying to raise the issue, the spectacle of war, fear mongering, creating a defeatist attitude and that is why this is a constant struggle,” said Malaya.

Chinese maritime expansion has been ongoing for years, but have appeared to intensify during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with incidents ranging from ship collisions to Chinese vessels targetting Philippine boats with water cannon blasts.