The Philippines is confronting an unexpected adversary in its fight for its claims over parts of the South China Sea: an outspoken band of its own citizens echoing pro-Beijing narratives. “We’ve presumed there was a Chinese information operation [in the Philippines]. They operate everywhere in the world. But we started really being alarmed when we saw that there were Filipinos who were parroting the Chinese narrative,” Jonathan Malaya, Assistant Director General of the National Security Council (NSC), told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) in an interview.

Elemia, C. (2023, October 31-November 2). PHL confronts unlikely adversary in SCS row: Filipinos echoing ‘pro-Beijing’ narratives. Daily Guardian, pp. 1, 11.