MANILA, Philippines — Is China using social media trolls to spread propaganda that would sow division among Filipinos over the country’s territorial sovereignty?
Sen. JV Ejercito raised this issue with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Monday during the hearing on the 2027 budget of the Department of National Defense (DND).
Ejercito, the chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, noted that hundreds of comments flooded his social media page within minutes after he issued a statement reacting to the Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan’s statement that China, if it should opt to use force, would win in a conflict with the Philippines over the West Philippine Sea.
“What’s saddening is that there are Filipinos who, I don’t know… All of us should be united here, but they [the Chinese] have allies here,” Ejercito said in Filipino.
“Like recently, the one I had an exchange with was the Chinese ambassador. Actually, I was practicing my Mandarin. I’ve forgotten it because it’s been so long since I graduated from Xavier [School]. Maybe he doesn’t understand that the West Philippine Sea is ours. So, in Chinese, I told him the West Philippine Sea is ours. And in seven minutes, there were 500 comments suddenly,” he added.
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Broader strategy
In response, Teodoro said that China’s People’s Liberation Army employs influence and propaganda activities as part of its broader strategy, pointing to the United Front Work as a pillar of the Chinese Communist Party.
“They admit it [China] that they’re part of the United Front Work, which is the pillar of their Communist Party,” Teodoro said in Filipino, explaining that the initiative is a party activity rather than simply a state activity.
He also distinguished the People’s Liberation Army from the armed forces of a sovereign state, describing it as an arm of the Chinese Communist Party.
“It was born through subversion, espionage — as with a lot of communist governments. Although some have changed guises, what we observe is that here [in the Philippines] is where China has the most intense regime-legitimacy support operations for its foreign policy,” he said.
Teodoro warned that allowing China’s narratives on disputed waters to go unchallenged could eventually normalize its claims in the public eye.
“Now, if we don’t stand up against that narrative, it will become normalized. They will say: ‘You’ve accepted it. You were silent. It’s better to take a stand instead of losing it by default,” he said.
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Remain vigilant
Ejercito urged fellow Filipinos to remain vigilant against possible disinformation and influence operations, particularly those that exploit social media to deepen divisions over matters of national interest.
Ejercito clarified, however, that his criticism was directed at the Chinese government’s actions in the West Philippine Sea, not the Chinese people, stressing his personal ties to the Filipino-Chinese community and his upbringing at Xavier School.
“We’re not attacking the Chinese people. We have no bad blood with them. I came from a Chinese school — from Xavier School — like the secretary. We both grew up with our Chinoy friends, batchmates, and schoolmates, and we still love our Chinese friends,” Ejercito said.
He also emphasized that Filipinos can maintain friendships with the Chinese people while firmly opposing actions that violate Philippine sovereignty.
“We can respect the Chinese people without turning a blind eye to the actions of their government,” Ejercito said. /atm
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