The civil­ian-led Atin Ito Coali­tion has called for intens­i­fied efforts to com­bat mis­in­form­a­tion sur­round­ing the West Phil­ip­pine Sea (WPS), cit­ing the need to assert the Phil­ip­pines’ sov­er­eignty and expand civil­ian pres­ence in the con­tested waters. Dur­ing a press con­fer­ence at a hotel in Cebu City on Wed­nes­day, April 15, 2026, Phil­ip­pine Coast Guard (PCG) spokes­man for the WPS, Rear Adm. Jay Tar­ri­ela, said one of the coun­try’s greatest chal­lenges in address­ing the issue is the mis­in­form­a­tion cam­paign allegedly car­ried out by the People’s Repub­lic of China and amp­li­fied by some social media influ­en­cers. Tar­ri­ela said these efforts aim to divide and con­fuse the Filipino pub­lic regard­ing the WPS issue. He added that the dis­pute is an intergen­er­a­tional issue that will con­tinue to per­sist, warn­ing that it may be passed on to future gen­er­a­tions of Filipi­nos if left unad­dressed.

Codis, D. M. (2026, April 16). Atin Ito seeks intensified fight against WPS misinformation. SunStar Cebu, p. 4.