Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro cried foul over a propaganda video made by the Chinese state media depicting Filipinos as a monkey, saying such a move only expose the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the Chinese Communist Party.

In a statement, Teodoro said the artificial intelligence-generated video portraying Filipinos as a money being manipulated by the United States and Japan only exposed what the Chinese communist apparatus thinks of the Filipino people.

“Such contemptible propaganda is a disgrace to any State that claims to exercise responsible regional leadership. It reveals the weakness of a government that resorts to racism, threats, and manufactured hatred because it has utterly failed to defend its ridiculous claims through reason, evidence, or law,” said Teodoro.

China has been on the attack mode on social media and other online platform amid its insistence that it owns almost the entire South China Sea under a nine-dash line, a claim that was rejected by the Un Tribunal in a case filed and won by the Philippine government.

The video was released as the Philippines celebrates the 2016 Arbitral Award which China does not recognize.

For Teodoro, the video was a mockery of the UN Tribunal decision, and glorification of violence against the Filipino people.

“The recent spate of schizophrenic behavior of the Chinese Communist Party is too clear to disregard or to ignore. This latest act of dehumanization further reveals them as neither a secure and confident actor nor a trustworthy neighbor,” he said.

Racism

It was Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, who called out the Chinese state media for releasing the video that mocked the Filipinos.

He said the video was made by China Daily, China's state-controlled media.

For a country that shed tears and filed diplomatic protest when its leader was allegedly insulted, Tarriela said it is ironic that China is now disrespecting and belittling the entire Filipino people.

“Isn't it infuriating that the very country oppressing our rights in the West Philippine Sea has the audacity to produce a video portraying Filipinos as monkeys who just blindly follow Japan and the United States?,” said Tarriela.

“Fellow Filipinos, we are not monkeys, and let's not allow ourselves to be turned into monekys! Only animals treat fellow humans this way, and those who can't follow international law are even worse than animals!,” he added.

He said the video produced by the Chinese statement media is plain and simple racism and an open mockery of international law.

“Racism has no place in this day and age — and racism meant to belittle another race deserves nothing but condemnation. Filipinos are not monkeys!,” said Tarriela.

Flashback

China has been on the attack mode against outspoken Filipino officials, and Tarriela is one of them as he frequently trade barbs and launch counter-attack against any statement issued by China on West Philippine Sea matters.

And for Tarriela, this recent incident only reminded him of the time when he was castigated by fellow Filipinos for fighting the country’s interest in the West Philippine Sea.

“It reminds me of those senators who said I needed to apologize to China. So now, will they say that China should be the one to apologize — because it's us Filipinos ourselves being degraded by this video?,” he added.