STATEMENT OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS : "AIRING OF 'WOW CHINA' IS PROPAGANDA"

Habang may banta ang China na aarestuhin nito ang mga Pilipinong mangingisda sa Paracel Islands at Scarborough Shoal, patuloy naman ang pag-eere ng Chinese propaganda sa Radyo Pilipinas gamit ang sarili nating pondo sa sarili nating state media.

The Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS) claims that "Wow China" is an "educational program" and that "its format is light, informative, and entertaining; in no way whatsoever does it espouse or promote a particular political view or cause." Isang kasinungalingan ito.

The Dec. 14, 2019 episode of "Wow China" featured the chair of the Nationalist Filipinos Against Foreign Intervention as its guest, and the topic revolved around the Hong Kong protests that were happening at that time. When asked about how the Philippine government should intervene, the guest answered, "We should be careful. China is a big trade partner ... We do not want to antagonize the Chinese government."

Nagtanong din ang host ng programa about the state of democracy in Hong Kong, to which the guest replied, "With the one country, two systems, China did not curtail democracy in Hong Kong ... Mainland government is not interfering in the internal affairs of Hong Kong. 'One country, two systems' is being respected by the Chinese government."

Clearly, 'Wow China' is Chinese propaganda.

Episodes on April 4, April 25, and May 9 of this year also clearly advanced Chinese state propaganda by including and detailing the aid that China has given the Philippines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in portions of the show. The host of the May 9 episode even said: "Hindi tayo pinababayaan ng mga foreign neighbors natin especially ng China."

PBS' statement also said that it has agreements with the UK's BBC and Thailand's Sawasdee, as well as airing news on ASEAN countries, but let it be made clear that these countries are not violating our national sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea. Hindi tayo binubully ng mga bansang ito, hindi inaangkin ang mga islang tunay na atin.

It is infuriating that while our government continues to promote all that is well and good about China, albeit using Filipino taxpayers' money, the Chinese government continues to destroy our reefs, establish new districts in our territory, and harass Filipino fishermen in our own seas.

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Link: https://www.facebook.com/128801740656/posts/10164026668860657/?d=n