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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'We are nobody's tool': PCIJ hits back at Chinese Embassy

'We are nobody's tool': PCIJ hits back at Chinese Embassy

Published Feb 27, 2026 10:37 am
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) has blasted the Chinese Embassy for accusing it and one of its contributors of being tools of US propaganda after it released a video explainer on pro-China disinformation.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Feb. 26, PCIJ said it “regret[s] the Chinese Embassy has resorted to accusing PCIJ and PCIJ contributor Regine Cabato of being tools of U.S. propaganda after we released a video explainer on pro-China disinformation.”
The independent media organization stressed that it receives funding from multiple sources and has maintained its editorial independence since it was founded in 1989.
“The PCIJ receives funding from multiple sources, including from UN organizations. We have zealously guarded our independence since our founding in 1989. We are nobody’s tool,” the group said.
As such, PCIJ raised concern over what it described as the rapid spread of the Chinese Embassy’s allegations online.
“And yet, we have watched as pro-Duterte partisans amplified the Chinese Embassy’s allegations, posted at 11:34 PM Manila time on Facebook and X. The virality of the Embassy’s message within a few hours attest to the coordinated nature of this online attack,” it said.
The media group expressed alarm over what it viewed as an attack on independent journalism by Filipinos.
“We are alarmed that the Chinese Embassy is attacking independent reporting by Filipinos. Their actions only lend credence to our story,” PCIJ said.
Earlier, the Chinese Embassy said that PCIJ receives funding from the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which it described as widely seen as a “white glove” of the US government that has long been involved in interfering in other countries’ internal affairs, stoking division and confrontation, and influencing public opinion under the banner of promoting democracy.

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