PCG warns of surge in pro-China trolls on social media

Expect an increase in pro-China trolls and influencers on social media who are undermining the country’s assertiveness for transparency initiatives in the West Philippine Sea, a Philippine Coast Guard official warned on Monday. 

In a radio interview, PCG spokesperson for WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela said China is exerting efforts to counter the country’s transparency strategy — through the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea — by relying on its trolls spreading disinformation on various social media platforms. 

“The approach now of China to counter the transparency strategy of the Philippine government, particularly the NTF-WPS, is to carry out information operations to have more trolls and pro-China mouthpieces para magkaroon ng maling impormasyon ang mga Pilipino (to give wrong information to Filipinos) and for them to divide our country and not be united against China,” Tarriela said over the Teleradyo Serbisyo program.

Tarriela refused to identify these influencers but noted that they all have similar arguments about the government’s initiative in asserting the country’s sovereign rights in the WPS. 

“Also, with the narrative, mapapansin (it is noticeable) how some of our known influencers—I won’t be giving names—how they align with the trolls na walang (with no) identity. Pareho sila ng kinukuwento at ina-argue (they have the same stories and arguments) and they are amplifying these kinds of disinformation,” he said. 

Tarriela noted that the country’s strategic initiatives to counter China’s increased disinformation about WPS have been very effective in uniting Filipinos. 

“The reason why there’s a possibility that pro-China trolls will increase, is because we know for a fact, that since we started the transparency strategy sa WPS, we have become very effective in educating the Filipino people and sharing the right information with the international community,” he said. 

Citing a recent survey, Tarriela noted that more than 70 percent of Filipinos do “support the approach of President [Ferdinand] Bongbong Marcos [Jr.] in exposing Chinese aggression in the WPS.” 

“The same thing with the international community. More countries now are becoming more vocal and supportive of the AFP modernization, and even the PCG,” he continued.

To recall, the Philippine government bared its transparency initiative following the use of China Coast Guard of a military-grade laser against a Philippine patrol vessel near Ayungin Shoal in February last year.

Tarriela said the government will continue to expose China’s aggressiveness in the WPS now that the transparency initiative enters its second year. 

“The commitment of not just the PCG but the entire NTF-WPS is for us to sustain this transparency initiative we are doing for us to continuously expose the aggressive actions of the China, their illegal presence, and the bullying behavior that they are doing against our Filipino fishermen,” he added.

Tarriela said the WPS topic is unifying Filipinos. 

“Ang usaping WPS, ito lang nagpapakaisa sa mga Pilipino regardless of who you supported sa nakaraang election… dahil ang laban sa WPS ay hindi laban ng administration, kundi laban ito ng sambayanang Pilipino,” he stressed.