Senator Robinhood "Robin" Padilla and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela traded barbs on social media over the controversy surrounding an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated video by China Daily depicting Filipinos as monkeys and the government's transparency campaign in the WPS.

Senator Robin Padilla and Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela (Photos from Facebook)

Padilla accused Tarriela of triggering what he described as "wartime propaganda", claiming that the PCG official's actions escalated tensions with China.

"Mr. Tarriela, it was you who drew first blood. This escalation into wartime propaganda was your genius creation," Padilla said.

The senator argued that Asians, including Filipinos, Chinese, and Japanese, have historically been viewed as "monkeys" by white colonizers and supremacists, saying, "We cannot deny our relativity to each other."

He added that responding in kind to the Chinese media's AI-generated content would mean "abandoning our Asian and Austronesian heritage".

Tarriela rejected Padilla's assertions, insisting that the Philippine government's transparency initiative merely documents Chinese actions in the WPS.

"With all due respect, our transparency initiative is not wartime propaganda. It is simply a means to expose Chinese aggression and harassment—particularly against our Filipino fishermen and our PCG and BFAR vessels. We do not create the incidents; we only document them," Tarriela said.

The PCG spokesperson also took issue with Padilla's remarks about Filipinos being viewed as monkeys.

"I believe it is an insult to the more than 26 million Filipinos who voted for you that you accepted that we are monkeys," Tarriela said in Filipino.

He stressed that the offensive depiction did not come from "the perspective of white supremacists" but from the Chinese government itself, which he said produced and circulated the AI-generated video.

"As a Filipino, I will never accept that my race is made up of monkeys, nor will I accept that future generations of our country will be called monkeys. True respect for our people means defending them—not accepting insults," Tarriela added.

Padilla later responded, saying Tarriela had misunderstood his statement.

"Even in English, you still failed to understand," Padilla said in Filipino.

The senator clarified that he was referring to the historical view of Asians by white colonial powers, not agreeing with the Chinese portrayal of Filipinos.

"My message about monkeys was not for you, but for the Chinese media, so they would realize that their AI video was an insult to the Austronesian and Asian race," he said.

Padilla maintained that Tarriela had initiated the "wartime propaganda" by creating a caricature of Chinese President Xi Jinping while wearing his government uniform as an official under the executive branch.

"Huwag ka kasing mangongopya para batid mo rin ang kasaysayan ng kolonisasyon at digmaan (Don't just copy others so you can better understand the history of colonization and war)," Padilla said.