Tarriela asks voters to avoid electing ‘pro-China’ election candidates
THOSE ‘MANEUVERS’ AGAIN. A China Coast Guard (CCG) ship is seen in a photo dated August 2023 preparing to strike a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel with a water cannon that it is on its way to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal. (File picture from PCG FACEBOOK page)
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela appealed to the public not to vote for “pro-China” candidates in the 2025 national and local elections.
“Alam na natin kung paano tayo binu-bully ng China. Alam natin na ang mga mangingisdang Pilipino ay patuloy pa ring nahihirapang mangisda dito dahil sa harassment nila,” Tarriela said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.
(We know now how we’re being bullied by China. We know how Filipino fishermen continue to struggle to make a living here because of their harassment.)
“So if we’re going to elect senators, congressmen or even local government unit executives, siguraduhin natin wala ni isa sa mga ito ang uupo dahil pro-China sila,” Tarriela asked voters.
(So if we’re going to elect senators, congressmen or even local government unit executives, let’s make sure none of them will take their seats because they’re pro-China.)
He pointed the the reason: “Dahil hindi sila pro-Philippines at hindi nila isinasaalang-alang ang ating Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Coast Guard, and ordinary fishermen.”
(Because they’re not pro-Philippines and they don’t consider the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Coast Guard, and ordinary fishermen.)
Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesperson of Philippine Coast Guard for the West Philippine Sea, speaks and answers questions from the members of the media at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025. (Photo from ARNEL TACSON / INQUIRER.net)
While Tarriela clarified that he was not in support of any candidate, he also stressed that if lawmawkers who “didn’t think the West Philippine Sea was a priority” were elected, they can stall the budget of the PCG.
READ: West PH Sea dispute expected to be issue in 2025 midterm polls
The appeal was in response to a question about whether or not the Coast Guard’s stance on the West Philippine Sea dispute should be one of the criteria in selecting candidates for the midterm polls.
The comment came after Tarriela’s heated exchange with SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta over the past week, after the latter said there was “no such thing” as the West Philippine Sea.
READ: Marcoleta grills Tarriela after backlash on ‘no such thing’ as WPS quip
Marcoleta is running for a Senate seat on the slate of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) with the endorsement of former President Rodrigo Duterte,
Duterte famously promised to take the Philippine flag to the West Philippine Sea on a jetski to assert the Philippine sovereignty over the area.
But the former chief executive later backtracked on the remark.
READ: Duterte: Jet ski promise just a campaign joke, stupid
When asked about the “jetski” comment, Tarriela said, “Hindi mo na maloloko ang Pilipino na magje-jetski ka para pumunta ka sa West Philippine Sea because, for more than three years, ipinakita natin sa mga Pilipino kung ano talaga ang kalagayan ng West Philippine Sea.”
(You can no longer deceive the Filipino people that you’ll take a jetski to go to the West Philippine Sea because, for more than three years, we’ve shown to Filipinos what is really the condition in the West Philippine Sea.)
“Wala nang Pilipinong mabubudol na sasabihin mo magje-jetski ka, dala mo ang Philippine flag, to counter China,” he told the former president.
(No Filipino will be fooled if you say that you’ll take a jetski, bring the Philippine flag, to counter China.)
