THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, on Thursday hit China over a video portraying the Philippines as a monkey being manipulated by the United States and Japan.
The video also belittled the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award as a mere piece of paper.
The Chinese state media China Daily released the AI-generated cartoon featuring a powerless monkey wearing a Barong Tagalog and traditional native hat on board a wooden ship. The monkey was being forced by two giant hands portrayed as the US and Japan to sing a song against China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
When the animal sang, “We attempt to bypass China and initiate the so-called maritime delimitation talks,” it gets scolded by a background voice telling it was a “wrong song, stupid monkey. We gave you the other lyrics.” The supposed other lyrics were written on a piece of paper which said “South China Sea Arbitration.” The monkey was thrown into the sea by the US and Japan and water cannoned.
In a Facebook post, Tarriela blasted China for curbing the Philippines’ rights in the West Philippine Sea while having the temerity to create parodies about it.
“Isn’t it infuriating that the very country infringing on our rights in the West Philippine Sea has the audacity to produce a video portraying Filipinos as monkeys who simply follow Japan and the United States?” Tarriela said.
The Chinese embassy in Manila had filed a diplomatic protest against Tarriela for displaying caricatures of Chinese President Xi Jinping. His gesture gained various reactions even from lawmakers who asked him to issue an apology to Beijing which he refused.
“Here, in this video that runs for more than a minute, what is being insulted and belittled is our very identity as Filipinos,” Tarriela said.
He said such a gesture is an “outright racism and mockery of international law.”
