Sen. Robin Padilla on Friday blamed Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Jay Tarriela for the escalation of "wartime propaganda” following a viral video from Beijing media seemingly depicting Filipinos as monkeys.
On Facebook, Padilla posted a video of himself on a vessel at sea. In the caption, he lambasted the PCG official for starting the feud.
“Mr. Tarriela, it was you who drew first blood. This escalation into wartime propaganda was your genius creation,” Padilla said.
Padilla earlier issued a statement criticizing China for China Daily's artificial intelligence (AI) video. In his latest Facebook post, he said, "As for the Chinese media, aren't we all monkeys of different colors in the eyes of white colonizers/supremacists?"
"Filipinos are brown, and Chinese and Japanese are yellow. We cannot deny our relativity to each other,” Padilla said.
“Going down to Mr. Tarriela's level is abandoning our Asian and Austronesian heritage,” he added.
Tarriela shot back at the senator, denying the claim that it was propaganda. He explained that the PCG was only exposing Chinese aggression towards Filipino fisherfolk, as well as personnel from the PCG and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
“I believe it is an insult to the more than 26 million Filipinos who voted for you that you accepted that we are monkeys,” Tarriela said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Tarriela said that China had exposed how they viewed Filipinos. The PCG official said that he could not accept the demeaning remark about his country.
Philippine officials have slammed the AI-generated video from the state media China Daily, with many calling it a racist attack.
The video depicted a monkey in a barong being directed to sing by arms bearing US and Japanese flags before it is blasted with a water cannon. –NB, GMA News