State-run PTV to air Chinese dramas, docus; Alejano sees PHL surrender

State-run television PTV-4 will air starting in August Chinese shows dubbed in Filipino.

According to the PNA, Chinese embassy press attache Li Lingxiao said the shows will include a TV drama, a Chinese movie, a cartoon and a documentary.

"From now on, our Filipino friends could, for the first time, watch Chinese TV series, documentaries, cartoons and movies dubbed in Tagalog on PTV," Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said at the launch of what has been dubbed as the Chinese TV Theater.

Zhao was quoted as saying that the Chinese shows will help Filipinos "better understand China, its people, their long history, their rich culture, their daily lives, their endeavor and their dreams."

"Reform and opening up really represented a strategic move to mobilize each and every Chinese striving for his or her personal happiness, for his or her family welfare, and for his or her national development," Zhao said.

"This is known as the 'Chinese Dream'," he added.

Opposition lawmaker Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano criticized the government for airing the Chinese shows on state-run television.

"PTV airing of Chinese shows is a clear display of the Duterte administration’s surrender to China’s power," Alejano said in a statement.

The former Marine captain warned of the propaganda value of the Chinese programs airing on the Philippines' government TV station.

""This is part of the soft power strategy of China which seeks to influence and infiltrate Filipinos through economic, political, and now cultural tools. The latter is a matter of making us understand the oppressors and grabbers of our islands in a subtle and subliminal way," Alejano said.

"Ang pinakamasaklap ay ito ay ginagawa ng isang institusyon ng gobyerno at ginagastusan gamit ang kaban ng bayan," he added. —NB, GMA News