Digital advocacy group Digital Pinoys is urging Filipinos to remain vigilant against foreign pressure, influence operations, and information manipulation, warning that the fight for Philippine sovereignty is no longer confined to the country’s seas but is also being waged in online spaces.
Digital Pinoys National Campaigner Ronald Gustilo cited recent exchanges involving Filipino officials and the Chinese Embassy in Manila, including the embassy’s public response to Senator JV Ejercito’s criticism of Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan and its repeated confrontations with Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela over his statements on the West Philippine Sea. The embassy has also faced criticism over its remarks about Filipino journalists covering China’s activities.
More recently, the embassy publicly singled out Filipino lawmakers with the remark, “Put on record. You are now on the list,” and responded to a Senate resolution urging President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare Ambassador Jing Quan persona non grata or request his recall with the statement, “Since you don’t welcome us, we don’t welcome you, either. Fair enough.”
“These statements raise serious concerns about how the Chinese Embassy responds when Filipino officials exercise their right to question, criticize, and scrutinize the actions of a foreign government. Philippine lawmakers, journalists, and public officials must be able to speak on matters affecting our national interests without being made to feel that they are being singled out for doing so.”
Gustilo said these incidents underscore that the defense of Philippine sovereignty extends beyond territorial waters.
“Our online spaces have become another arena where public opinion can be influenced, critics can be targeted, and narratives can be weaponized. Filipinos must remain vigilant and refuse to let foreign pressure dictate how we understand and discuss issues affecting our own country. Defending our sovereignty is not an act of hostility, and exercising our democratic rights must never be treated as an offense against a foreign government.”
Gustilo said these developments warrant scrutiny amid the findings of Microsoft’s 2026 Digital Defense Report, which ranked the Philippines as the fifth-most targeted country for Chinese state-sponsored cyber operations, behind the United States, Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong. The report identified intelligence gathering as a major objective of Chinese state-linked cyber activity.
“Cyber operations and information manipulation operations are distinct but complementary instruments of modern state competition. One wants to compromise systems and gather intelligence, while the other aims to distort public discourse, discredit critics, and undermine trust in our democratic institutions.”
Gustilo emphasized that individual online attacks, sudden surges in comments, and public diplomatic confrontations do not, by themselves, establish a single coordinated foreign-directed operation. However, he said credible indicators of coordinated influence activity should be investigated rather than dismissed.
“We urge social media platforms to investigate credible indicators of coordinated inauthentic behavior, preserve relevant evidence, and enforce their policies consistently. The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and other appropriate authorities should also investigate potential foreign interference, establish verifiable links to influence networks, and pursue lawful action where the evidence supports it.”
Gustilo stressed that diplomatic and economic relations must never require Filipinos to remain silent when Philippine national interests are at stake.
“We must defend our territorial waters, digital infrastructure, democratic institutions, free press, and the people’s freedom to think and speak for themselves. International relations should never come at the expense of our sovereignty or our ability to scrutinize actions that affect the Filipino people.”
Gustilo also called on Filipinos who knowingly participate in foreign influence operations directed against their own country to reconsider their actions.
“To Filipinos who knowingly serve as instruments of foreign influence operations against the Philippines: you cannot claim to defend the Filipino people while helping another government manipulate our kababayans. No amount of money, political loyalty, or personal interest should justify participating in campaigns designed to undermine Philippine sovereignty, discredit those defending our national interests, or manipulate the Filipino public. Being Filipino means being accountable to the interests of the Philippines, not serving as a willing instrument of foreign interference.”