'You are considered a traitor': Tarriela warns vs backing China’s claims in West PH Sea

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea. Bianca Dava, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA —Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine See, on Wednesday warned that supporting China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea at the expense of the Philippines’ sovereignty and sovereign rights amounts to “treason.”

Tarriela made the remarks following heated debates between officials in both the Senate and House of Representatives on the West Philippine Sea issue.

“If you are undermining our own position, if you are defending the position of the People’s Republic of China, if you are advancing their interests, and at some point, questioning our own position, I don’t think this is a patriotic service to the Filipino people. This is actually treasonous. You are considered a traitor already,” Tarriela told reporters in a phone interview.

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Under Philippine law, treason is the crime of "[levying] war against the Philippines or adheres to her enemies" during a state of war.

Sens. Francis Pangilinan and Rodante Marcoleta earlier this week clashed over the exact coordinates of the part of the South China Sea where the Philippines has sovereign rights.

But Tarriela stressed that the issue had long been settled by retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio and legal experts, citing the 2016 Arbitral Award that favored the Philippines and invalidated China’s nine-dash line claims.

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“The mere fact that this was already decided by the Arbitral Tribunal and we even recognized this as an arbitral award in favor of the Philippines, and debunking the nine-dash-line claim of the People's Republic of China, there's no reason for us to make an issue out of it,” the official said.

Tarriela also pointed to the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, which became law and formally defines the country’s maritime entitlements.

READ: Arbitral court's ruling on Philippines vs China

At the House of Representatives, two lawmakers clashed on Monday after one accused the other of “protecting China” in his privilege speech.

House Minority Leader Representative Marcelino Libanan of 4Ps Party-List called for government officials to be disciplined and profession when addressing sensitive foreign policies, including the West Philippine Sea.

Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez accused him of defending China despite aggressive actions against Philippine Coast Guard vessels and against Filipino fishers in the West Philippine Sea.

TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVE NOT MEANT TO ESCALATE TENSIONS

Tarriela defended the government’s transparency initiative, saying the PCG has been releasing unedited photos and videos showing China’s coercive and aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

These have included dangerous maneuvers, water cannon attacks, ramming, illegal reclamation, and the deployment of Chinese maritime militia.

In a statement on Wednesday, Chinese Embassy in Manila deputy spokesperson Guo Wei accused Tarriela of “smearing and attacking China” and undermining diplomatic efforts.

Guo said Tarriela was “freelancing” diplomacy and bypassing the Department of Foreign Affairs, which represents and implements foreign policy.

He also claimed that the PCG official had posted hundreds of “false, twisted, manipulative and misleading” narratives against Beijing.

In a post on X, Tarriela responded by posting a one-minute video showing China’s illegal and coercive actions in the West Philippine Sea, with the caption: “No need for further explanations. Only truth, no fabrications.”

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The official emphasized that responding to the Chinese Embassy’s statements is necessary to counter lies and disinformation.

“[A]ll of what we did in the past year, you as my personal witness, especially our media friends… all of our public incidents, we all have receipts,” Tarriela said.

“If we're going to silence ourselves and if they're going to continue publicizing all those disinformation and fake news, then they will lead the narrative. It will appear like we're silent because we cannot respond to their lies,” he added.

The official also stressed that the transparency initiative is not meant to escalate tensions, but to inform the domestic and international communities about Beijing’s violations of international laws.

“It is them who started this and I'm just responding to all these things they're doing,” Tarriela said.

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“Our transparency effort is not escalating the tension or provoking anyone. We're just countering all the lies and telling the international community what's really happening and who is violating international law. “