Sen. Robin Padilla blamed Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Jay Tarriela for what he described as the escalation of “wartime propaganda” following the circulation of an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated video from Chinese state media that appeared to depict Filipinos as monkeys.
In a Facebook post, Padilla shared a video of himself aboard a vessel at sea and criticized Tarriela, accusing him of triggering the dispute.
“Mr. Tarriela, it was you who drew first blood. This escalation into wartime propaganda was your genius creation,” Padilla wrote.
The senator had earlier condemned the AI-generated video released by China Daily. However, in his latest post, he argued that Asians share common ancestry.
“As for the Chinese media, aren’t we all monkeys of different colors in the eyes of white colonizers/supremacists?” Padilla said.
“Filipinos are brown, and Chinese and Japanese are yellow. We cannot deny our relativity to each other,” he added.
Padilla also said that “going down to Mr. Tarriela’s level is abandoning our Asian and Austronesian heritage.”
Tarriela rejected the senator’s claims, insisting that the PCG’s actions were not propaganda but part of its efforts to expose China’s aggression against Filipino fishermen, as well as personnel from the PCG and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
“I believe it is an insult to the more than 26 million Filipinos who voted for you that you accepted that we are monkeys,” Tarriela said in a mix of English and Filipino.
He added that the China Daily video revealed how China viewed Filipinos and said he could not accept what he described as a demeaning portrayal of the country.
The AI-generated video, released by China’s state-run China Daily, has drawn widespread condemnation from Philippine officials, who described it as a racist attack. The video showed a monkey dressed in a barong being directed by arms bearing U.S. and Japanese flags to sing before being blasted with a water cannon.
