CHINA ‘PARROTS’
HOUSE Ad Hoc Committee on Marawi Rehabilitation and Victims Compensation Chairman Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur has condemned the increasing number of Filipino vloggers parroting and spreading China’s false narrative on the West Philippine Sea.
Adiong, a House Assistant Majority Leader, told a news conference Thursday that these social media personalities are traitors and do not deserve to be called Filipinos.
“Ito ay hindi lang fake news eh, ito’y agarang pagtataksil sa ating bansa. It’s so disturbing that there are Filipino vloggers who support the false narrative of China to claim ownership, portion of our seas. To me, it’s not only betrayal, or pagiging traidor sa kanyang bansa, this is dismantling of our sovereignty one post at a time,” Adiong told reporters.
“So para sa akin, just to be candid about it, pagtataksil at hindi siya karapat dapat na tawaging Filipino. So it’s really disturbing that some of our Filipino kababayan are even pursuing the narrative of China,” Adiong said.
Adiong said the pro-China vloggers forget that Filipinos are at the receiving end of Beijing’s aggression and harassment in the West Philippine Sea.
“Remember kung ikaw ay isang Filipino naniniwala sa integridad at soberenya ng Pilipinas, hindi lang kasi ‘yung isyu ng teritoryo ang pinag uusapan dito. ‘Yung mga harassment na ginagawa sa ating most vulnerable sector in our community, mga fishermen, tingnan n’yo ‘yung mga nangyayari sa mga kanila doon,” Adiong added.
“Maski iyon lang ang maging konsiderasyon mo para magkaroon ng ganoong paniniwala na dapat talaga hindi suportahan kung ano man ‘yung naratibo ng China. You forget about national security, just be a Filipino. Kawawa ‘yung mga nangyayari sa ating mga fishermen d’yan sa area ng West Philippines Sea. Iyon man lang, I think that would be enough for a Filipino to say hindi dapat maging supportive doon sa naratibo ng China sa pag-angkin nila dito sa West Philippine Sea,” Adiong stressed.
Adiong called on the authorities to make pro-China Filipino vloggers account for their actions.
“May mga batas naman tayo na naka in place, [like the] Anti-Sedition Act. There are a lot of ways in order to make kababayan accountable for supporting a foreign claim which is diametrically opposed to our national interest…I’m sure ‘yung legal way on how to make them accountable, meron naman tayong mga batas na nandiyan,” Adiong said.
Adjong said there is no problem if one is just sharing his or her opinion on what is happening in the West Philippine Sea.
“But if your opinion is diametrically opposed to our territorial claim over this, then that becomes an issue of national security concern,” Adiong said.
During the House Tri-Com hearing on Tuesday, officers of Meta, formerly Facebook, informed the panel that they had taken action on a post by blogger Mark Lopez that they found to be false.
The post claimed that the Philippines had used water cannons on China Coast Guard in the West Philippine Sea.
A verification made by Meta fact-checker VERA Files found the claim to be false and Meta posted the appropriate correction.
Lopez is one of four vloggers cited in contempt and ordered detained by Tri-Comm for 10 days at the House of Representatives.
