By Nathaniel R. Melican
Social media influencers and other social media pages are using appeals to emotion in presenting news updates, particularly in relation to issues surrounding the West Philippine Sea and diplomatic ties between the Philippines and the United States.
A case in point was the response of a number of social media accounts to the meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Woodside, California on Nov. 15 (US time).
On Nov. 16, Sass Rogando Sasot, a prominent supporter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, posted a status update on Facebook related to the meeting.
Using white text on a red background, Sasot wrote, “How many times [did] the White House mentioned ‘Philippines’ in the official report of [the] Xi-Biden meeting? ZERO. West Philippine Sea? ZERO. Taiwan? THREE.” She then used an expletive before writing, “kung di pa kayo matauhan.”
The White House’s official readout of the meeting between Biden and Xi notes that the two leaders discussed a variety of common concerns between the two countries, including in combatting illegal drugs, increasing the number of passenger flights between the two countries, and in addressing climate change.
While the Philippines or the West Philippine Sea was not mentioned, the readout said that Biden “emphasized the United States’ enduring commitment to freedom of navigation and overflight, adherence to international law, maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea and East China Sea, and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” He also reaffirmed the US’ “ironclad commitment to defending our Indo-Pacific allies”—something that Sasot left out in her post.
Regarding Taiwan, the White House’s readout said that while Biden emphasized the US’ one-China policy remains, he reiterated that the US expects “cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means,” and called for restraint in China’s military activity in and around the Taiwan strait.
Sasot’s post received received over 1,600 reactions, most of which were likes and laugh emojis. It was also shared 104 times and got 101 comments.
A Facebook page called The rhk111 Philippine Defense Page, which has over 74,000 followers, picked up on the themes in her post. On Nov. 18, they posted a screenshot of Sasot’s original post, with its caption saying that she was “on point” with her post.
“And considering that the Filipino Doggies of the US had been making so much NOISE against China the past few Months, and yet now the US allows there willl (sic) be no mention of it at all? This just shows how the US is willing to fight for Taiwan in a way that it will never do for the Philippines,” the page said. It also pointed out that Biden did not meet with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who only met with US Vice-President Kamala Harris during the the summit.
“Learn to read between the Lines, Doggies, don’t keep trying to hide it under the Carpet because you are so ashamed to talk about it,” the post concluded.
Earlier, the page posted a similar message. “The Question [is] simple: Why up to now the United States (US) can’t still be dragged to Ayungin Shoal, despite them being given so many Military Bases by Bobong Bong [Bongbong Marcos]? Are the Filipino Doggies of the US so shallow that they are happy already by the “Moral Support” that the US is giving them?” the page posted on Nov. 17.
This was the caption to a cartoon they reposted from the Instagram account @pusanggala007. The cartoon depicted a small metal ship with a canon and a Philippine flag manned by a soldier. The ship was kicked into the sea by a character dressed in a suit with the red, white, and blue colors and the stars and stripes of the US flag. The soldier asks the man in the suit, “Aren’t you joining me?” to which the man in the suit replied, “I can’t. It’s a proxy.”
Elsewhere, a TikTok user called “joiedevivre420” posted the same message, with the caption “Asa ka pa”. Using a photo of Biden and Xi taken during the summit manipulated to show Marcos seemingly hiding in the bushes behind the two leaders, the video, set to the music of Ara Mina’s Asa Ka Pa, simply read, “Did they talk about the Philippines? NO.” The video garnered 301 likes, 81 comments, eight bookmarks, and two shares.
Joiedevivre420 also posted a video with similar themes on Nov. 13. The video contained a screengrab and subtitles of a Reuters report posted on YouTube quoting US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan as saying that Biden will push China to reestablish military ties. Her caption reads, “Paano na yung mga asang-asa kay Angkol Sam? ????????????”
The video received 181 likes, 103 comments, 10 bookmarks, and 15 shares.
This report was made possible by an Internews project to build the capacity of news organizations in understanding disinformation and influence operations in the Philippines.