📷AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr.
THE People’s Liberation Army need not fire a single shot to invade the Philippines, says Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. even as he claimed that China has adopted a peculiar strategy designed to yield the same result.
According to Brawner, China is already infiltrating and wrestling control over major sectors which include the media and local governments.
He also hinted at China’s effort to control the education sector for its cultural war and business industries for economic dominance through what he aptly referred to as “United Front Works” strategy.
“They are slowly entering our country and trying to influence various sectors in our society, including the education sector, business, even the media, and local government units,” said Brawner moments after attending a command conference with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and National Security Adviser Sec. Eduardo Año.
China is also allegedly using Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) to gain entry into the Philippines.
“Our counteraction against their United Front Works is that we are going to try to gather information from all of these and then give the proper agency the right kind of information. For instance, what we did in operations against the POGO, it’s not the POGO itself because there are licensed and legal POGOs. We are targeting the illegal establishments, those that were legal POGOs but suddenly became illegal because of other activities they are doing within the confines of their structures. That’s what we are addressing,” Brawner explained.
When asked how the government intends to deal with such, he claimed preventive measures are already in place, even as he admitted the AFP has been gathering information that is immediately sent to the Bureau of Immigration and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) for appropriate action.
The AFP chief also warned the public of China’s propaganda war embarking on false narratives – or fake news, as he called it.
“We have a campaign, part of our briefing to the President today is our communication plan or campaign called MULAT. We need to awaken and be aware of what’s happening internally in our country,” said Brawner.
The AFP has launched the West Philippine Sea MULAT communication plan to counter the misinformation spread by China.
“Hopefully, our fellow countrymen will adopt it. The West Philippine Sea is our ocean, our rights, and our future. What we are doing is not just for the present but also for the future generations of the Philippines,” Brawner concluded. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
