NSC to China: Plain denial of election meddling not enough

National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya on Monday urged the Chinese Embassy in Manila to answer allegations that China is meddling in the May 2025 elections in full detail, saying straight denials will not do.

Malaya made the call as Philippine authorities belie China's announcement that it has already seized Sandy Cay, a sandbar just two nautical miles away from Palawan province.

“I urge the Chinese Embassy to explain the cheque that was exposed by Senator [Francis] Tolentino. Blanket denials will not do. It was released in a hearing, there's a contract, there is a cheque issued by the Chinese government, the Chinese embassy, in the name of Infinitus Marketing which is obviously and clearly in the business of influencing political discourse,” Malaya said in a press conference.

Malaya was referring to a Senate hearing presided by Tolentino last week where the latter presented service agreement dated August 2023 between the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, represented by Wu Chenqi, director of the embassy’s media and public relations, and InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc., represented by Myka Poynton, marketing director of the firm.

Tolentino alleged that the contract is for the deployment of keyboard warriors who will parrot sentiments favorable to China. 

During the same hearing, Malaya said there were indications that China is interfering in the May 2025 elections by supporting certain candidates.

“So rather than doing these things [of saying they have seized] Sandy Cay, they should explain to the world and to the Filipino people why they are interfering in the internal matters of the Filipino people. Why are they trying to influence the political discourse in this country which is something that no diplomatic mission should be doing?” he added.

In a press conference on Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said “China follows the principle of non-interference in other countries’ domestic affairs” and has "no interest in interfering in Philippine elections.”

GMA News Online reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Manila for comment and will publish it once available.

No names, though

During the same press conference, Malaya was asked for a response on the call of House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro to name the people behind China’s election meddling.

Castro’s call read “Dapat pangalanan ng NSC ‘yung sinasabi nilang mga kandidato na sinusuportahan or influenced by the other country, kung China man ‘yan, whether ito ay suportang material, suportang mga [uri ng] disinformation against doon sa mga kalaban noong mga kandidatong sinusuportahan ng China. Kailangan talaga maging specific ang NSC.”

(The NSC should drop names here [of candidates backed by China], whether the support is in the form of materials, or disinformation efforts against their rivals. The NSC should be specific.)

Malaya, however, did not give names and instead accused the progressive group Makabayan bloc, of which Castro is a member, of acting like a spokesperson for Beijing since they are critical of increasing the military’s modernization budget.

“Alam mo, iyong Makabayan, kung ano ano na lang sinasabi nila. Sinabi nila, why do we have to spend more to improve our armed forces because these types of things...[such as] procuring armaments for our armed forces, modernize the Armed Forces...they said it is better to spend these on other budget items. They even say that this [modernization is an escalation [of conflict], [a] provocative action. Spokesman na ba ang Makabayan ng People’s Republic of China?” he said.

“They are speaking the same script we are hearing from Beijing. Those statements from the Makabayan bloc are really useless,” he added.

In response, Castro said Malaya's answer and attack on Makabayan is not a surprise given that official served as the undersecretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte who is now detained in the Netherlands due to alleged crimes against humanity.

"He (Malaya) continues to evade the question of naming the so-called China-backed candidates while hurling baseless allegations against Makabayan. Those are classic squid tactics and misdirection which he probably learned from his time as a Duterte appointee, having served in the past administration while being complicit in many of the past regime’s misdeeds," Castro said in a statement.—AOL, GMA Integrated News

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