Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. accused Beijing of resorting to “disinformation through avoidance” to deflect from illegal activities by foreign nationals and diplomatic overreach in the country.
In a statement, Teodoro addressed recent criticisms from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, characterizing the official response as an attempt to evade central issues regarding local law enforcement actions.
“The Chinese Foreign Ministry continues to evade the crucial issue,” Teodoro said. “The latest Chinese Foreign Ministry statement against me is a classic squid tactic, disinformation through avoidance.”
Teodoro pointed to local law enforcement operations that uncovered environmental and safety violations, stating that the criminality involved is backed by court-issued evidence.
“The first question is: were these individuals involved in illegal activities? The plain and simple answer is yes, unless Chinese officials consider the regurgitation of substandard, radioactively tainted steel, the destruction of the environment by dumping untreated, polluted water into rivers, and the release of untreated toxic fumes to be legitimate practices,” Teodoro asserted. “This is backed by indisputable and legally admissible evidence gathered by law enforcement authorities through valid search warrants issued by Philippine courts.”
The Defense Secretary also highlighted findings revealed during recent Senate hearings concerning diplomatic conduct, alleging that foreign representatives had improperly interfered in local law enforcement processes.
“The second question is: did embassy officials actively intervene in local law enforcement processes and threaten retaliation against Filipinos? The answer, as revealed in a Senate hearing, is yes,” Teodoro stated.
Addressing reported warnings of economic or diplomatic consequences from Beijing, Teodoro rejected the pressure and accused the Chinese Foreign Ministry of attempting to intimidate the nation.
“The Filipino people will not fall for this. Threatening that they will ‘bear the brunt’ is an indiscriminate threat to retaliate against all Filipinos, which is, plain and simple, extortion and blackmail beyond doubt!” he said. “Di tayo pasisiil!” (We will not be subjugated!).