00:00I was honestly pleased to learn about the House of Representatives' decision to hold
00:08a public hearing addressing fake news, disinformation, and misinformation on social media.
00:16I believe this presents an opportunity for us to finally establish legislation that holds
00:23trolls, influencers, and bloggers accountable for their online content.
00:30It is important to note that one of the greatest challenges facing the Philippine government
00:35in the West Philippine Sea, aside from China's bullying, unlawful activities, and aggressive
00:42actions, is combating the spread of fake news and disinformation that obscures the true
00:49narrative of events in the West Philippine Sea, leading to confusion and division among
00:56our people.
00:58When President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. took office in 2022 and declared that he would
01:04not surrender an inch of our territory to any foreign power, many questioned the meaning
01:11behind his words, especially since the previous administration claimed that all was peaceful
01:18and under control in the West Philippine Sea.
01:22This misconception stemmed from the belief that the prior administration had effectively
01:27managed the situation in the West Philippine Sea.
01:31Between 2016 and 2022, only three incidents were reported to the media.
01:38The first one is in 2019 when Filipino fishermen from Mindolo reported that their boat, FB
01:46was rammed by the Chinese maritime militia in Recto Bank.
01:50The second incident was in 2021 when the AAP chartered resupply boat was hit by water cannon.
01:59And the last one on that same year when over 210 Chinese maritime militia were reported
02:05by the Philippine Coast Guard swarming near Julian Piliper Reef.
02:10The limited reporting of these incidents combined with the narrative that the former
02:16president's diplomatic effort had successfully convinced Xi Jinping to allow our fishermen
02:23to operate freely contributed to the false sense of security among the Filipino people
02:29regarding the West Philippine Sea.
02:31Therefore, for President Marcos to deliver his commitment of not surrendering a square
02:37inch of our territory to any foreign power, he has to unite the Filipino people.
02:43And the only way that we can unite our highly polarized country is to awaken their sense
02:49of patriotism with the right information.
02:53This is the reason why the Transparency Initiative of the National Task Force West Philippine
02:58Sea was launched in 2023.
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