"Why would I even defend you if you're calling me gag* (a fool)?"
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson, Commodore Jay Tarriela gave this blunt response to SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 18, after the latter confronted him about his recent controversial comments on the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2025/2/18/tarriela-tells-marcoleta-on-west-philippine-sea-issue-why-would-i-even-defend-you
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Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson, Commodore Jay Tarriela gave this blunt response to SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 18, after the latter confronted him about his recent controversial comments on the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2025/2/18/tarriela-tells-marcoleta-on-west-philippine-sea-issue-why-would-i-even-defend-you
Subscribe to the Manila Bulletin Online channel! - https://www.youtube.com/TheManilaBulletin
Visit our website at http://mb.com.ph
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manilabulletin
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/manila_bulletin
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NewsTranscript
00:00Honorable Marco Leta, you issued a statement, maybe it was interpreted by other bloggers and it was said that Honorable Marco Leta is a traitor.
00:21He is asking, first of all, do you know that this happened?
00:51When Congressman Marco Leta called me a traitor in one of his interviews. When was that?
01:00During his interview last February 10, don't act like an idiot and be ignorant like that Commodore.
01:22At that point in time, Honorable Marco Leta was asking if there was a misinterpretation in your statement on social media.
01:35Yes sir.
01:36You did not bother to correct that. That's what Honorable Marco Leta was asking earlier.
01:43Yes sir.
01:44Please answer that question. You did not do anything.
01:47I did not do anything sir.
01:48Okay.
01:50Why? Why did you not do anything?
01:54It's because sir, if I'm going to keep on defending...
01:59No, no, no. You are not supposed to defend me.
02:02Yes sir.
02:03It is true Mr. Chair that he did not call me a traitor, but it continues to be there and to be consumed by the public through the social media.
02:15I think it is his responsibility to deny it if it did not come from him. That is all I was asking. And I think this is not too big for him to do.
02:24That's all.
02:26But he did not do anything.
02:30That's why I'm asking why. Is it not important to you to correct something that did not originate from you?
02:37It's because Mr. Chair, the only time I learned about that was when I heard about your interview calling me a traitor.
02:45Why would I even defend you if you're calling me a traitor as a commissioned officer of the Philippine Coast Guard, being a spokesperson, calling me a traitor, not knowing what I'm saying.
02:55But actually, if you will read that content, the act of doing it is the one that is...
03:01It's not necessarily the person.
03:05I told you, even if you correct it, because it continues to be there in the social media, Mr. Chair.
03:14That's what's bad because people... I didn't really say that.
03:20They will die because it came from you.
03:22But if you didn't say it and you continue to be silent, people will think that you said it.
03:29So that is the problem, Mr. Chair.
03:31And I think we are here, we are hearing this in order to correct the misconception and misinformation because it continues to spread.
03:40If you get the point, Comodoro.
03:43Mr. Chair.
03:44Mr. Chair.
03:46Again, sir, the reason why I didn't reply is because I only learned about this news that spread when you had an interview calling me a traitor.
03:57As a human being, how would I defend somebody calling me a traitor in a public interview?
04:03Mr. Chair, if you look at the context of the speech, you are not the one who is calling me a traitor.
04:10You are the one who is calling me a traitor.
04:12What I'm saying here is, let us defend our own when we are not being called a traitor or when we are being emotional.
04:22It's actually not the person.
04:26If it's not the act, for example, we didn't do anything or we said something.
04:30Because I was confused, Mr. Chair, when you said that even if we didn't look closely, where did this narrative come from?
04:38Now, let me explain to you, Comodoro.
04:42This happened when we started to educate our countrymen.
04:49That's when it started.
04:52So it is not disservice.
04:54I do not deserve to be called a traitor just like that.
04:57What I want to happen is, let us inform the people that the West Philippine Sea is not officially flooded yet so that people will know.
05:08That's what we need to do.
05:10Let us make an effort.
05:11Let us flood the West Philippine Sea when we are sick, Mr. Chair.
05:15Because if we flood the West Philippine Sea and they google it, they will know that there is a West Philippine Sea.
05:20Not only because of that, we already made a law.
05:26Mr. Chair, that is preparatory so that we can flood the West Philippine Sea.
05:30That's why it takes time.
05:33That's probably the process.
05:34The other bloggers, Comodoro, cannot recognize it.
05:38That's why I gave an example earlier.
05:40They google it.
05:42Congressman Barbers is wasting the road that was built by Congressman Paduano.
05:49He cannot see it.
05:50So there is confusion.
05:52The tendency to be misinformed proceeds from the fact that it has not been flooded yet, sir.
06:00That's the only point, Mr. Chair.
06:03If we go back to Google, Mr. YouTube, this is spreading, but you're not doing anything to control this.
06:17Now they're bashing me.
06:19Marco Letta, pro-China.
06:21Now it's spreading through your platform.
06:24All the senators in this group, all of them are funded by China.
06:33It's here now.
06:34I will show it to you before you leave, sir, that it's spreading here.
06:38I'm with that group financed by China.
06:44That's how it is.
06:45So it becomes now an election misinformation that will impact on the credibility of the election.
06:53People might mislead again.
06:56That's what we want to fix, the misconception and misinformation.
07:03It's because of the lack of information that we have not yet flooded, Commodore.
07:11It has not been flooded officially.
07:14It's up to us.
07:15There's no problem.
07:16If it's up to us, it's up to us.
07:18Because that part of our ocean, whether it has a name or not, I told you earlier,
07:26the two of us will fight it until the last drop of our blood.
07:31And nothing will change.
07:33The problem is that we are confused because of that misconception.
07:37There's nothing wrong with that, Mr. Chair.
07:41I want to explain that.
07:42Now, I want to thank you.
07:45You explained that you did not say that I am a traitor.
07:50So thank you, even if you were caught.
07:52We said, Mr. Chair, even if you were caught and good, you will be caught.
07:58That's why my problem, Mr. Chair, is spreading.
08:02They thought you said it and it grew.
08:06Maybe because I was hurt, I said, let's not defend ourselves,
08:14that we will become emotional or we will become stupid.
08:18That's why it grew.
08:21That's the only reason.
08:22But the context, Mr. Chair, the context is we don't want to use misconception or misinformation,
08:31especially by bloggers, in all parts or aspects of our lives.
08:37The West Philippine Sea is ours, Commodore.
08:42Because this is the exclusive economic zone of the country.
08:47And that is not changing that fact.
08:50No matter how we go around the world, this is ours.
08:54That's why we have our name.
08:57So we will not use misinformation.
09:01Mr. Chair, thank you very much.