The Department of National Defense (DND) condemned on Saturday, Jan. 24, the People’s Republic of China’s (PROC) criticisms of Filipino uniformed personnel, including Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela, and warned the Asian superpower to stop their provocations as it will not stop efforts to unmask illegal actions and “lies” on the WPS issue.

DND spokesperson Asst. Sec. Arsenio Andolong took exception to the remarks of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun who claimed that certain Filipino service members who are “driven by personal political motives” have “repeatedly made outrageous and absurd statements and habitually incite confrontation” with Beijing.

Andolong specifically cited a quote attributed to Guo which said that Filipino service members and other “relevant individuals” should immediately stop making provocations and stop confusing right and wrong “or they will pay the price for what they did.”

In response, Andolong denounced China’s “affront” to any Filipino service member, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), as it reiterated that the Philippines “shall not be cowed by any official of the PROC whether in their homeland or as guests here. 

“We shall continue to speak against their lies and malign actions when such are committed,” he said.

For Andolong, Guo’s remarks proved the “unflinching and twisted attempt” by the PROC to “spread distorted narratives and to continue with its ineffective and distasteful campaign to bully smaller countries.” 

He also reiterated the Philippine position on the WPS and stressed that the area and its features “have never been part of the PROC.”

The DND added that the military will continue to carry out its mandate to stop the PROC’s “malign influence and illegal activities” within Philippine territory.

Tarriela recently engaged in a diplomatic spat with Chinese officials after he shared and used in a public presentation images that Beijing interpreted as caricatures of Chinese President Xi during a talk related to Chinese activities in the WPS.

Beijing’s embassy in Manila filed a formal diplomatic protest against Tarriela, saying his actions “crossed the line” and amounted to “defaming” and “smearing” Xi. They said such depictions were offensive and hurt China’s political dignity. The Chinese government even summoned Philippine Ambassador in Beijing Jaime FlorCruz to explain Tarriela’s actions.

However, Tarriela refused to apologize as he insisted that China has no authority to demand an explanation from him over the caricatures. He noted he did not explicitly name Xi and argued that the protest aimed to silence criticism of Beijing’s behavior in the WPS.

He also framed the embassy’s protest as an attempt to divert attention from documented incidents of Chinese harassment of Filipino vessels and illegal activities that the PCG has been highlighting as part of its transparency initiative.