Quezon city: Efforts to defend China's portrayal of Filipinos as monkeys are 'pointless', according to Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. "Walang kadepensa-depensa ang gobyerno ng Tsina sa paglalabas nila ng AI (rendering of Filipinos as monkeys). Gaya ng nasabi ko noon, ito ay patunay sa turing nila, saloobin nila sa Pilipinas. So ito'y napapasinungaling din sa kanilang magandang intensyon sa bansa. So, kailangang magising-gising na rin ang ating mga kababayan (The Chinese government cannot defend the issuance of an AI (artificial intelligence) (presentation rendering Filipinos as monkeys. Like what I earlier said, this is proof of their intentions against the Philippines, it belies their claims of good intentions to our country. So, our countrymen need to wake up),' he said in a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
According to Philippines News Agency, Teodoro emphasized that there is no justification for China's actions. He also dismissed claims that the Philippines is being used as a puppet by countries assisting it in the protection of the West Philippine Sea (WPS), stating that these supporting nations do not infringe upon Philippine maritime territory.
Teodoro criticized China's AI initiatives as "state-sponsored overt media,' highlighting the lack of press freedom in China, where media is controlled and heavily censored. "Hindi pwedeng maghugas kamay din ang Tsina dito, at huwag tayong malalaglag dito sa (sinasabing) wala silang kinalaman (China cannot just wash its hands off this, and let us not fall into their claims that they have no knowledge about this)," he added.
