00:00So, we have dropped in the rankings from number seven in terms of the most influenced by China.
00:08We're now 29th.
00:09Ang laki ng drop, no?
00:11But still, we're in the top third pa rin in terms of Chinese influence.
00:16What caused this drop?
00:17Well, we can say that the cost of the drop is actually the pivoting of the current government.
00:23We know that during the former President Duterte's time, ang pivot natin is away from the U.S. towards China.
00:29And other non-traditional partners because we wanted to supposedly maintain independent foreign policy.
00:36But with the BBM administration, what he did was to actually try to balance the relationship with China
00:43by pivoting to the United States for our security requirements, for our security needs,
00:49while maintaining economic engagements with the PRC.
00:53And the major shift was a big, it degraded a lot of the Chinese influence.
00:58Meron po tayong transparency initiative in the West Philippine Sea.
01:03So, because of that transparency initiative, tumaas yung skepticism ng Filipinos towards the PRC.
01:08Because we really see what they're doing with the bullying of not just our uniform personnel,
01:12but of the ordinary fisher folks there.
01:16So, marami pong naging effect yung pag-pivot natin at pag-try na pag-hedge or pag-balance ng gobyerno natin
01:23sa engagement natin with the PRC as well as the U.S.
01:27And right now, with the move to create strategic partnerships with other countries in terms of defense,
01:34I think it further limits the impact of China on the Philippines.
01:38So, I want to ask you about this transparency initiative.
01:42Nung palahoni ng Duterte administration, media was rarely allowed to accompany the Navy, the Coast Guard,
01:55or whatever military presence there was in the West Philippine Sea to see what was going on.
01:59Under the Marcos administration, it's been much looser, the controls.
02:06In fact, they encourage journalists covering military patrols, operations.
02:15There have also been even civilian operations visiting various sites there.
02:20And there have actually been encounters, hostile interactions that have been captured by media,
02:29both international and domestic, Philippine media.
02:32And you're saying that has actually had an impact on ordinary people in the Philippines?
02:40Yes.
02:40Just allowing them to see what was really going on.
02:44Before, people didn't know.
02:46Because we treated it more as a foreign policy issue than a human security issue.
02:54So, ang isa pa pong pinapakita talaga ng transparency initiative is how the West Philippine Sea issue
03:03and China's bullying is preventing us from taking care of the ordinary Filipinos.
03:09So, for instance, one of the more common narratives na sinasabi ng mga actors is,
03:16bakit tayo nagsaspend ng sobrang daming pera on military build-up?
03:20Eh, nagugutom yung mga Pilipino.
03:22Totoo po ba na nagugutom mga ilang mga Pilipino?
03:25Yes.
03:26But they don't make the effort to actually combine or to actually bridge the gap of,
03:34you know, if we take care of the West Philippine Sea,
03:35we're going to be able to address food security in the Philippines.
03:39If we take care of our EEZ, which is wherein we have exclusive rights,
03:44we're going to be able to take care of the food security of the Philippines.
03:47And this is something that the Transparency Initiative is, I think,
03:50slowly trying to communicate along with our journalists and the media.
03:55Yung ganito pong mga gaps in the narratives na madalas kumakalat from the other side.
04:01But that was the point of this recent documentary, Food Delivery, right?
04:07Na, you know, a big part of the struggle there is over fisheries.
04:11Yes.
04:11If China tries to prevent access to these waters,
04:16it's, again, it's not just a matter of military access,
04:19it's also fisherfolk, ordinary Filipino fishermen,
04:24fishing, you know, catching fish for food.
04:29Yes.
04:30And, you know, we know that fisherfolk are among the poorest sectors in the Philippines.
04:35So, yung po mga narratives na ganito is actually very concerning
04:39because they make use of what is truthful,
04:42which is food security is an issue in the Philippines.
04:45And then they weaponize it to attack something else,
04:49another priority, which is AFP modernization or defense build-up.
04:54Kung ibabalik po natin sa concept din ng FIMI,
04:57we can say that this is information manipulation,
05:01wherein you frame a certain truth and then you weaponize it,
05:06and then you use it to achieve your own ends.
05:08At marami pong nangyayaring ganito.
05:10So, sa pag-aaral po namin,
05:12it's not just fact-checking or truthfulness or veracity,
05:15it's also framing these narratives to weaponize it
05:19against, you know, against us, the Filipino people,
05:22the government, or even certain individuals.
05:26But sometimes what's being framed is not even true.
05:28Yes.
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