Tolentino says no electioneering in Senate hearings on Chinese intrusion
Reelectionist Sen. Francis “Tol” Tolentino.
MANILA, Philippines — The Senate hearing on the intrusive activities attributed to China is not an election move made by the administration or the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas slate. Senator Francis Tolentino said the discussions were borne out of his own initiative.
Tolentino during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday disputed claims that the hearing on China’s submersibles found off Masbate waters, the allegations that the Chinese embassy tapped a local firm to do social media operations, and China interfering with the elections were only a way to divert discussions and grandstand.
According to Tolentino, the Alyansa did not even know that he was holding a hearing last Wednesday.
Not Alyansa handiwork
“Just to clarify, what I did has nothing to do with the administration, it’s just me. That’s not the handiwork of Alyansa, it’s just Tol, it’s just Tol who moved last week. They don’t even know that I have a hearing,” he said in Filipino.
“That’s just me, you ask the NBI, the PNP, if the cheque came from them. That’s my work, the Alyansa had nothing to do with that. That’s not an Alyansa endeavor, purely Senator Tolentino,” he claimed.
Tolentino was referring to Alyansa candidates initially not knowing, when they were in Pampanga last April 23, why he had to address the crowd first over his 10 other colleagues. Alyansa was in Pampanga that morning for a local sortie, while Tolentino was scheduled to resume the hearing of the Senate special committee on Philippine maritime and admiralty zones.
He heads the said special panel.
Aside from Alyansa not knowing, Tolentino said his criticism of China’s intrusive actions started way before the five-party alliance for the 2025 midterm polls was built.
READ: Tolentino: China meddling in polls boosted with arrest of Chinese nat’l
“Because I have been doing these efforts, the Philippine Coast Guard when we were hit, when I condoled families of Zambales fisherfolk who died, the Alyansa was not around back then. When I released the pictures of Sandy Cay, that was 2023. This is how long it has been,” he said.
“What I’m doing is not just for election purposes. Maybe that’s what other people think of, but I have been fighting for this since 2022,” he added.
During the hearing, it was revealed that the National Security Council (NSC) believes there have been attempts from China to interfere in the upcoming 2025 polls.
At the discussions last April 24, Tolentino asked NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya if there were any indicators showing foreign interference in the 2025 elections.
`Chinese state-sponsored groups’
Malaya then replied that there are indications that “information operations are being conducted or that Chinese state-sponsored groups in the Philippines are actually interfering in the forthcoming elections.”
READ: China interfering with PH’s May 2025 polls, says NSC’s Malaya
But aside from interfering in the Philippine elections, it was also revealed during the Senate hearing that China, through its embassy in Manila, allegedly paid for a “troll farm” under a contract with a private company to discredit the Philippine government and anti-China Filipino personalities.
Tolentino said a “service agreement” between the Chinese Embassy and InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc. in August 2023 included the provision of “keyboard warriors that will play a vital role in the overall effectiveness of the issue management project.”
According to Tolentino, InfinitUs was allegedly contracted to spread pro-Beijing narratives and fake news campaigns targeting lawmakers who support the Philippines’ claims over the West Philippine Sea.
