Divide and conquer? Teodoro says China meddling with Philippine politics

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Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro on Thursday said China is already meddling in Philippine politics as more Filipinos turn against each other.

“Pinaratangan na nila ako na personal political motive. Nakikialam na sila sa politika dito, hindi na diplomasya ang pinag-uusapan dito. They are already wading into the internal affairs ng Pilipinas at hindi…palalampasin ito,” Teodoro said in an interview with Super Radyo dzBB.

(They have accused me of a personal political motive. They are meddling with the politics here, it is no longer about diplomacy. They are already wading into the internal affairs of the Philippines and this… should not be allowed to pass.)

Asked if there was an effort to divide and conquer, Teodoro said “definitely”.

“Made-de-escalate ito kung manindigan ang Pilipino laban sa kanila, kasi niloloko na tayo nitong mga ito, very obvious na 'to, at pinaghihiwa-hiwalay na tayo. Ang escalation ay hindi nanggagaling sa atin. Factual lang naman ang sinasabi natin laban sa kanila,” he added.

(This will be de-escalated if Filipinos stand up against them, because we are being fooled by them; it is very obvious that we are being divided. The escalation did not come from us. Everything we say against them is true.)

Jing has been drawing criticism after saying last week that China would win if it used force in the West Philippine Sea, something that he said his country would not do. However, some government officials have defended Jing, including Senator Robin Padilla, who claimed that the envoy was a gentleman.

“Opinyon ni Senator Robin iyon, pero opinyon ng nakararami, hindi eh,” Teodoro said.

(That is Senator Robin’s opinion, but the opinion of many is that he is not.)

Legislators from both chambers of Congress have filed their respective resolutions urging President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to declare Jing as persona non grata.

Following Jing’s comments, the Chinese Embassy has also targeted several Filipino personalities, even going as far as “banning” the House lawmakers behind the resolution from going to China.

Teodoro said that while Jing’s behavior is unacceptable, there were many things for Marcos to consider before he could decide to expel the envoy.

After all, Jing was only acting on the Chinese government’s orders, he added.

“Okay, palitan mo ‘man 'yan. Kung 'yung papalit, ganun pa rin ang ginagawa…Anong silbi? Kaya kailangan, 'yung solusyon dito, matigil 'yung gawain nila at maipaliwanag sa kanila na may hantungan ang pwede nilang gawin dito. Wala sa tao 'yun,” Teodoro said.

(Okay, replace him. But if the person they replace him with is also doing the same thing… then what is the use? So what is needed, the solution here is to stop what they are doing, and explain to them that they have limitations. This is not with the person.)

The Palace earlier stated that Marcos is not inclined to expel Jing, but maintained that this did not mean that the Philippines was relinquishing its claim on the West Philippine Sea.—AOL, GMA News