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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Red flag? Solons raise eyebrows on SMNI's link up with Chinese state network amid WPS issue

Red flag? Solons raise eyebrows on SMNI's link up with Chinese state network amid WPS issue

Published Dec 11, 2023 11:08 am

At A Glance

  • House of Representatives members have raised serious concerns over local television network SMNI's reported partnership with China Global Television Network (CGTN), citing negative implications on information dissemination in light of China's claims in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). 

alejandro-luengo-jL0tMFYOdBM-unsplash.jpgFlag of China (Unsplash)

House of Representatives members have raised serious concerns over local television network SMNI's reported partnership with China Global Television Network (CGTN), citing negative implications on information dissemination in light of China's claims in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Navotas City lone district Rep. Toby Tiangco, Quezon 2nd district Rep. Danilo "Jay-jay", and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel expressed similar worries Monday, Dec. 11 as solons tackled the SMNI-CGTN deal during a hearing of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises.

Tiangco underscored before the House panel that CGTN was one of the three branches of the state-run China Media Group.

He says the fact that CGTN is owned by the Chinese government, raises concerns about the potential consequences of such collaboration, especially in the context of China’s narrative on the WPS.

“If the franchise holder may cooperate or collab with the Chinese government state-owned media network, alam naman natin ang nilalabas [na mga impormasyon] ng China ngayon lalo sa [WPS] ay puro kasinungalingan,” Tiangco said.

(we know that information released by China particularly on the WPS are all lies.)

SMNI legal counsel Mark Tolentino clarified that the agreement with CGTN was still in the negotiation phase, meaning it was yet to be finalized. He nevertheless assured that any final agreement would adhere to Philippine laws.

For his part, Suarez noted Beijing's tendency to distort the narrative on the WPS, as he cited a Chinese news outlet’s portrayal that the Filipinos have been the aggressors in the body of water.

The Quezon solon said there is an apparent distortion of the narrative, in order to present a different story to their audience compared to the actual events taking place.

“Binaliktad nila ang kwento, iba ang kwento sa kanila doon sa tunay na nangyari sa mga Pilipino (They're switched the story around, their story is different that is really happening to Filipinos)."

He added: “Kaya ito medyo may pangamba din para sa akin dahil alam naman natin (That's why I'm personally worried about this because as we know), there are always two versions to the story. But as Filipinos we always have to support that which the Philippine government holds.”

Manuel, meanwhile, questioned during the hearing the removal of the webpage containing information about the SMNI-CGTN collaboration. He found the action of taking down the particular webpage suspicions.

The Makabayan solon revealed that the collaboration was announced on X, formerly Twitter, in July of this year. However, when he tried to access the corresponding news item through a link provided in the tweet, he was met with an error message (404 - page not found).

The legislative franchises panel is conducting a probe on alleged franchise violations of SMNI.

Related Tags

SMNI CGTN west philippine sea
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