Internal word war averted? PCG spox says he didn’t call DFA a ‘troll’

In both online and real-world spaces, most discussions on the West Philippine Sea these days are either impassioned to begin with, or quickly turn tense — no thanks to the very public and increasingly harsh exchange of words between Philippine spokespersons and officials and envoys of Beijing in Manila. 

Most have called it a word war. On some days, it seems more like a diplomatic mess many have chosen to deliberately downplay. 

On Friday, February 20, the war of words almost happened internally, between two spokespersons who once studied in the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and have donned — in the past for one and in the present for the other — the blue uniform of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). 

“It’s unfortunate and I do not want to glorify the statement anymore but personally, we have the highest regards for our men in uniform and other fellow public servants and I think it’s not too much to expect the same,” said Rogelio Villanueva Jr., the diplomat who is assigned to speak on maritime affairs for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

He was asked, in a press conference, for a reaction to PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela’s supposed allegation that the DFA was turning into a “troll” amid heated discourse on the South China Sea and whether the Chinese embassy in Manila’s actions matched their status in the Philippines. 

Villanueva has a background that’s unique, even in a bureaucracy as diverse as the DFA. Before joining the Foreign Service Corps, Villanueva served in the Philippine Navy and then in the PCG. He is a graduate of the PMA. 

Tarriela once attended the PMA, too, and is currently a senior officer in the PCG. 

The PCG official was quick to issue a rejoinder just hours after Villanueva’s press conference. “Let me be clear and unequivocal: I did not, and would never, suggest — particularly in a public forum — that the DFA is becoming a ‘troll’  or is acting in any improper manner,” he said in a statement to media. 

Earlier on February 20, Tarriela had spoken before a forum on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) regarding Beijing’s efforts to undermine the Philippines’ standing and internal cohesion in managing its claims and entitlements in the West Philippine Sea. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including features that the Philippines claims is its territory and areas that are part of the Philippine exclusive economic zone. 

Part of Tarriela’s speech during that forum, as prepared, is as follows: “Moreover, Beijing’s strategy to silence transparency is so carefully calibrated that it begins subtly with trolls and online commentators arguing that the Department of Foreign Affairs should be the sole entity handling West Philippine Sea issues, framing it strictly as a diplomatic concern rather than a matter for public discourse or multi-agency involvement for a whole of government approach.

“Such FIMI operations of the PRC (People’s Republic of China) want to take advantage of the position of the DFA since we are the ASEAN host, emphasizing that we should be giving more space for negotiation and diplomacy. Thus, it confuses the Filipino people, making us all even doubt our professional and competent diplomats whether their take is also aligned with that of the trolls and the Chinese government.”

So, based on his speech — as prepared and as delivered — the PCG official didn’t say the DFA was a troll. He did seem to imply, however, that there was a perception, or at least an operation to drive a perception, that the DFA and its diplomats were “aligned with… trolls and the Chinese government.” 

Tarriela doubled down on his statement, including a public apology seldom heard from the spitfire of a one-star official. “I regret any misunderstanding arising from the interpretation of my remarks and apologize to the DFA for any inconvenience caused by the need to address this matter publicly,” he added. 

All’s well that ends well?

That’s not to say that the PCG spokesperson had softened his rhetoric and snapbacks in the face of the Chinese embassy’s repeated and very public rebukes of his statements and person. At the FIMI forum, Tarriela started his presentation by showing an editorial cartoon by a Philippine daily depicting himself and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi was censored, quipped Tarriela, because it might be the subject of another diplomatic protest — a reference to the protest the embassy filed in the Philippines and in Beijing over Tarriela’s use of satirical images depicting Xi during a talk at a university. 

It’s that image, the Chinese embassy in Manila insists, that triggered its barrage of long-winded statements, first against Tarriela and later against any and all officials or agencies that either came to his defense or clapped back at the embassy.  

But Beijing’s representatives in the Philippines have long had a bullseye on Tarriela, among the originators of the country’s “transparency initiative” or its name-and-shame campaign to expose China’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea. – Rappler.com