MANILA, (PIA) — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported Wednesday it successfully pushed back Chinese vessels while facing increased online disinformation about its West Philippine Sea operations.
Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela said China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 3304 has been forced 88 nautical miles away from Zambales, following weeks of Philippine maritime patrols.
The operation began January 4 when China’s larger “monster ship” entered within 54 nautical miles of Capones Island.
“We have been very successful in pushing back the CCG vessels,” Tarriela said during a forum in Quezon City.
Multiple Philippine vessels, including BRP Teresa Magbanua and BRP Gabriela Silang, participated in the patrol rotations.
Meanwhile, the PCG also reported an increase in trolls targeting government social media pages, which Tarriela attributed to the country’s enhanced transparency efforts in the disputed waters.
The official said the PCG faces increasing online disinformation campaigns targeting government social media pages.
With this, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea is developing strategies to “dominate the public discourse about our factual narrative,” Tarriela said.
“I think this is their reaction to the transparency efforts that the National Task Force for WPS is doing right now,” he added, referring to the surge in trolls spreading misleading information about maritime territorial disputes.
The developments reflect a two-front challenge for Philippine authorities: maintaining physical presence in disputed waters while countering coordinated online efforts to undermine public confidence in maritime defense operations.
The maritime operations align with President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr.’s directive to protect Philippine interests while avoiding escalation, Tarriela noted (JCO/PIA-NCR)
(Photos by Gelaine Louise Gutierrez/PIA-NCR)
