FACT-CHECK: PH Navy did not destroy 135 Chinese vessels

CLAIM: The Philippine Navy destroyed 135 Chinese fishing boats in Whitsun Reef South China Sea.

RATING: FALSE

A YouTube video falsely claimed that a war had begun between the countries Philippine and China. It also claimed that the Philippine Navy destroyed 135 Chinese fishing boats in the Whitsun South China Sea or the Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea.

The YouTube page “The Military TV,” which has over 400,000 subscribers, uploaded on Jan. 14 an 8-minute-long video bearing the false headline “War Began!! Philippines Navy destroy 135 China illegal fishing boats in Whitsun Reef South China Sea.”

The clickbait thumbnail showed a doctored photo showing China’s vessels, one on fire, and another with the Philippine flag.

The thumbnail also flashed text making the same false claim: “Horrible Attack Ukraine. BREAKING NEWS. War!! Philippines Navy destroy 135 China illegal fishing boat of Whitsun Reef South China Sea.”  

The video showed footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman, Commodore Jay Tarriela, on Dec. 3 of  Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) vessels near Julian Felipe Reef. 

In the statement, Tarriela said on Nov. 13 that the PCG had only monitored CMM vessels swarming the reef.

There were no reports that a war had started between the two countries and that the PCG had destroyed 135 CMM vessels. 

As of writing, the video has gained 13,769 views and 17 comments. Rushelle Intia

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Rushelle Intia is a Journalism student from the University of Santo Tomas and an intern for PressOnePH. This piece was created under the supervision of PressOnePH’s editors.