Beijing’s Embassy in Manila Engaged in ‘Treasonous’ Disinformation Campaign, Lawmaker Alleges

Both the Senate majority leader and the Philippines Public Relations Society have accused the embassy of hiring a local company to spread ‘fake news.’

Chinese nationals (background R) and their alleged Philippine accomplices (L), arrested for alleged espionage, are escorted out of a room by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents after a press conference at the NBI office in Manila on Feb. 25, 2025. Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images

Beijing’s embassy in Manila had hired a company in the Philippines to “destroy the credibility not just of a person or a leader, but of the country,” according to Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, who is also chairperson of the Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones.

During a hearing of the Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones on alleged spying by Beijing, Tolentino said the embassy had hired a troll farm to spread disinformation. This included the supposed disadvantages to the Philippines of having the U.S. Typhon missile system and the dangers of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s regime, considering the “history of its dictatorship family”—a reference to the notorious rule of his father, Ferdinand Marcos, who was deposed in a coup in 1986.