Marcoleta cries foul over ‘spliced’ remarks on Kalayaan Island Group

Senator Rodante Marcoleta took the Senate floor on Tuesday to protest what he called the splicing and distortion of his statements on the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) by a fellow senator.

In a privilege speech, Marcoleta said one of his colleagues “caused the publication, through his official social media account, of a spliced and manipulated compilation” of his remarks during a Commission on Appointments (CA) committee hearing.

He did not explicitly name the senator, but slides presented during his speech showed the name and video clips of Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.

“These statements were maliciously lifted, compiled, and used without consideration of their context. The complete transcript of the hearing would clearly show that there was no intent to surrender our rightful territory,” Marcoleta said.

“As I previously explained, it was only to illustrate the herculean task of delimiting the West Philippine Sea in relation to the enclaved territorial seas of each of the occupied and claimed features in the Kalayaan Island Group, most of which lie in the high seas,” he added.

GMA News Online sought Lacson’s comment and will update this story once he responds.

Earlier, Lacson said he had “no idea” how to splice a video.

“Reports have reached me that a fellow senator has threatened to file an ethics complaint against me for supposedly splicing a video taken during a CA confirmation hearing," the senator said in a post on X.

"Paano ba mag-splice ng (How can one splice a) video? I have no idea. Please teach me,” he added.

Marcoleta had earlier moved to amend the draft minutes of the CA national defense committee hearing on February 4, seeking to remove his controversial “give up KIG” remark.

He has drawn criticism over the statement, but has repeatedly maintained that his words were taken out of context and that he did not intend to suggest removing the KIG from Philippine territory.

The CA panel has yet to act on his request.

Meanwhile, the Sangguniang Bayan of the Municipality of Kalayaan has also asked the CA to expunge Marcoleta’s remarks from the congressional record.—MCG, GMA Integrated News