Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. accused individuals urging the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to turn their backs on the government of being “sellouts” to China, saying they are destabilizing their country to force it into submission.
“Those who persuade the Armed Forces to revolt want us to sell ourselves to China and bow down in the face of oppression that it [China] is doing,” he said in a radio interview.
Teodoro also pointed out the hypocrisy of politicians who claim contempt for the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its military and political arms, the New People’s Army (NPA) and the National Democratic Front (NDF), while doing the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“I am puzzled about other politicians who express contempt for the CPP-NPA-NDF on their right hand, while on their left hand, they are still interacting and having agreements with the Chinese communist party,” he also said.
As this developed, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) reported the presence of more Chinese vessels at Bajo de Masinloc in the West Philippine Sea during a maritime patrol.
BFAR reported that seven Chinese government vessels, including China Coast Guard ships 3303, 3502, and 3305, were spotted as close as one nautical mile from the shoal.
BFAR also spotted two Chinese floating buoys deployed illegally in the area and another to the northwest. The agency observed a Chinese jet fighter and an unidentified PLA Navy helicopter.
Teodoro’s remark came after AFP spokesperson, Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, said the United People’s Initiative’s (UPI) recent rally at the Edsa People Power Monument could have been foreign-funded.
The UPI calls for the resignation of President Marcos while disavowing destabilization efforts, although one of its speakers urged the AFP to withdraw its support from the administration.
Likewise, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Rafael Alunan III warned that foreign actors—specifically China—may be fueling political tensions to destabilize the Philippines.
In a radio interview, Alunan said there are “elements in the political realm” seeking to disrupt and divide the country for their own interests, with outside powers allegedly using local surrogates to advance their agenda.
“Well, there are elements in the political realm that want to destabilize the country. There is a foreign hand behind this that wants to distract, divide, and demoralize the nation for their sinister ends, and they are using their local surrogates to do that,” he said.
“What they want is simply a shift of power from the incumbent back to them. I think most people today are quite aware that we’re not going anywhere with that kind of political maneuvering,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) cautioned that recent disinformation spreading online may be linked to foreign actors, as government agencies intensify their monitoring of social media platforms amid rising political tensions.
AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla told reporters on the sidelines of a Stratbase cybersecurity forum in Makati City that identifying the sources of false information may involve domestic and foreign actors.
“Is there a foreign influence in this? That could be a possibility. It could be a foreign entity inside the country, or foreign state actors. There are different vectors of attack when we do cyber investigations,” she explained on Thursday.
The spread of malicious information has become rampant in recent months, she added.
Meanwhile, NSC cybersecurity chief Major Gen. Cornelio Valencia Jr. (Ret.) said destabilization rumors appear largely politically motivated and have not reached a level that threatens national security.
