Sagip Partylist Representative Rodante Marcoleta and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Commodore Jay Tarriela, engaged in a verbal sparring match Tuesday after Marcoleta accused Tarriela of failing to refute social media claims tagging him as a “traitor” and pro-China.

At the third hearing of the House tri-committee investigating disinformation, a heated exchange erupted when Marcoleta called out Tarriela’s alleged lack of initiative to correct or deny false reports claiming the PCG spokesperson branded him a “traitor” following his controversial remarks on the WPS.

“Why didn’t you explain? You should have said that ‘Marcoleta is a traitor’ did not come from you. It is only now that you are explaining that you did not say anything like that; it was already spread on social media,” Marcoleta said. “No matter how many thousand times you explain here, the person has already heard that you said it.”

To recall, the lawmaker has been under fire since claiming at the same hearing earlier this month that “there is nothing as West Philippine Sea,” and that it lacks international recognition to appear on global or regional maps.

Tarriela expressed his frustration on X, saying such a statement is a “disservice and an embarrassment to their entire party, the organization they belong to, and even their own family.”

Although Tarriela denied calling Marcoleta names, he affirmed before the panel that he didn’t owe anything to the lawmaker, who criticized him as a “fool” and “ignorant.”

“Mr. Chair, honorable Marcoleta, sir, I think I’m not under obligation to tell all the social media influencers [and] vloggers [to] defend your name, [to] tell them you’re not a traitor. Again, I did not say you are a traitor. Those words did not come from me,” Tarriela said. “Why would I go to the extent of defending you [if] you are running for Senate? I might as well be interpreted as supporting somebody for public office.”

Marcoleta, however, countered that the issue would have died if Tarriela had disowned the statement.

“Whether it is not true that he called me a traitor, it continues to be consumed by the public through social media. I think it is his responsibility to deny it if it did not come from him. That is all I was asking, and I think this is not too big for him to do,” the lawmaker said.

Marcoleta lamented that the traction of the false content may negatively impact the elections. He also said that he and his allies were being branded as pro-China and financially supported by Beijing.

According to Marcoleta, his statement was taken out of context. He claimed his only intention was to inform people that the WPS is not yet registered with the International Hydrographic Organization.