Shrugging off China’s travel ban against him and his family, National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Friday called the sanctions “expected,” the predictable cost of speaking truth to deception.

“That is truly what they do to those who speak the truth against their deception. Their own countrymen and the others under their control suffer far worse,” said Teodoro in a statement to the DAILY TRIBUNE.

The ban, issued Thursday, marked another escalation in the long-running territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Half a dozen countries, including the Philippines, claim parts of the sea but Beijing insists on its sovereignty over nearly all of the waters.

China said Teodoro and his immediate family are barred from entering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao, and Chinese entities are prohibited from conducting business with them.

“To uphold China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests, China has decided to prohibit Gilberto Teodoro Jr., his spouse, and child from entering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao,” the China foreign ministry statement said.

It added that organizations and individuals in China would not be allowed to engage in “any transaction, cooperation, or other activities” with Teodoro and his family.

Teodoro’s rhetoric “undermines China’s legitimate interests and sabotages China-Philippines relations,” the statement added, without specifying to which remarks it was referring.

DFA backs Teodoro

In response, Teodoro asserted, “I will just keep doing my duty and uphold our nation in the face of the wickedness they are committing here and even in our seas.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs has branded China’s entry ban on Teodoro as an “unfriendly act,” designed to further strain Manila-Beijing bilateral ties amid the long-running tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Although the DFA acknowledged that it was China’s prerogative, the move “further

complicates” the already tense diplomatic relations between Manila and Beijing.

“Such measures do not contribute to building mutual trust, managing our differences responsibly, or creating the conditions necessary for constructive engagement between our two countries,” the DFA said on Thursday.

The sanction applies not only to the defense secretary but also to his wife, Nikki Prieto-Teodoro, the country’s Special Envoy to the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (Unicef), and their son.

Aside from barring their entry, China banned Teodoro and his immediate family from doing business with or engaging in any related activities with Chinese organizations and citizens.

In an interview on Friday, Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro doubled down in defense of Teodoro, suggesting that Beijing could have done better.

“We think what they did to Secretary Teodoro and his family was not right,” Lazaro said. “However, that’s their sovereign right.”

China did not explicitly cite which statement by Teodoro it was referring to, although earlier this month the Chinese embassy in Manila took offense at the defense chief’s remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in late May.

At the summit, Teodoro criticized China’s fertilizer and fuel aid to the Philippines amid the oil crisis as “guileful” and a “sugarcoat that doesn’t cut the mustard,” citing Beijing’s relentless aggression in the WPS.

Teodoro said the assistance lacked long-term good faith and failed to compensate for China’s territorial coercion.

Embassy calls Teodoro an ‘ingrate’

The Chinese embassy in Manila denounced Teodoro’s tirade, calling him an ingrate and accusing him of advancing his own political agenda with “no regard for the welfare of the Philippine people.”

“For years, China has provided real help to the Philippine people, including vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic, fertilizer donations amid a global shortage, helping build major infrastructure projects, and offering immediate relief whenever the Philippines was hit by disaster,” the embassy said.

“Despite China’s selfless support, Secretary Teodoro couldn’t even bring himself to say thank you — a real-life reenactment of ‘The Farmer and the Snake,’” the statement said.

AFP voices support

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also expressed its support for Teodoro.

In a statement from the Office of the Special AFP Spokesperson for the WPS, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, the AFP said it stands solidly behind Teodoro.

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines stands in absolute solidarity with National Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. following the unilateral and ungrounded sanctions imposed by the People’s Republic of China,” the AFP statement, a copy of which was provided to the DAILY TRIBUNE, read.