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Two ranking congressmen from Mindanao have called out China for its propaganda, which they believe is an attempt to create confusion among Filipinos on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue.

Criticizing the Chinese over this tactic on top of their continuous bullying of Filipino fishing boats and other assets in the body of water are Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers and Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong. 

Barbers says he is in full support of Department of National Defense (DND) Chief Gilbert Teodoro, who likened to a “charade” the Chinese Embassy's claim that Manila and Beijing have a “new model” or gentleman’s agreement meant as “confidence-building measures to avoid conflict in the WPS.” 

“The claim made by a Chinese Embassy official, I believe, is an outright and calculated lie and forms part of their propaganda intended or designed to veer away and/or deviate the Filipinos’ attention on their creeping invasion and maybe other evil designs in the Philippines,” he said. 

Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said China first claimed it had a verbal gentleman’s agreement with former president Rodrigo Duterte on the Ayungin Shoal in WPS. 

"Now, under the present dispensation, the Chinese Embassy claimed the exists a 'new model' of a gentlemen’s agreement confirmed by the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) Wescom, the DND chief and the National Security Adviser. Secretary Teodoro has debunked all those claims,” he noted. 

“China is banking on those fabricated or non-existent verbal agreements to justify their presence, incursions in the WPS, bullying and water-cannoning of our Coast Guard and BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources) ships inside the Philippine territory. China has been lying and the Filipinos should always adopt extreme caution on whatever they say and do on the WPS issue,” added Barbers. 

Adiong, an assistant majority leader, said China is resorting to propaganda to divide Filipinos on issues involving the WPS. 

“I think beyond the legal issues nakikita ko po dito (what I see here is) this is one of the tactics of China, part two ng propaganda ng PR ng China (this is part two of the propaganda of China’s public relations). In fact, Secretary [Gibo] Teodoro came out this morning with the statement denouncing that there was no such new arrangement,” he said. 

“I think China is resorting to different kind of tactics, nandiyan ‘yung bullying, pati na rin ‘yung kasi (the bullying is there including the propaganda because) they understand the importance of propaganda [because] it puts legitimacy to their illegal claim," Adiong said. 

"Sinasabi nila o, nag-agree na kami at saka ang Pilipinas (They're saying, look we have an agreement with the Philippines) so why are you acting this way? Why are you changing our agreement?” he asked. 

Adiong has admitted to being angry that there are Filipinos parroting China’s wrong assertions on the WPS, and who are serving as Beijing’s mouthpiece. 

“I think it's very clear ang position ng ating President, ang ating gobyerno, that we have to fight for our claim at hindi lang ito arbitrarily claimed by the Philippines (The President and our government have a very clear position, that we have to fight for our claim and that this isn't an arbitrarily claim by the Philippines), the basis for this is the ruling of the UNCLOS and internationally we have the moral high ground to claim these areas and the [WPS]," Adiong stressed. 

UNCLOS stands for United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It was adopted in 1982.