Not All Foreign Influence in Philippines Is Malign — SkimNews
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- Rommel C. Banlaoi, director of the Philippines-China Studies Center at Diliman College, argues in an opinion piece that foreign influence operations in the Philippines are not uniformly malign and should not be exclusively attributed to China.
- China's influence toolkit in the Philippines spans media partnerships, United Front outreach to Filipino-Chinese communities, economic investments in zones such as Cagayan, scholarships, and language programs — some of which the author says foster mutual understanding.
- The United States, Japan, Australia, and South Korea also conduct influence operations through military cooperation, development assistance, infrastructure projects, maritime security, and cultural diplomacy, the piece notes.
- Genuine security threats identified include espionage networks targeting Philippine defense institutions, cyber intrusions into government systems, and covert funding of local actors.
- Thousands of teachers from mainland China staff Chinese-language schools in the Philippines, embedding cultural and ideological influence in the education sector.
- China remains the Philippines' largest trading partner, and the author warns that categorically rejecting all Chinese initiatives would be "self-defeating" and risk lapsing into Sinophobia.
- The piece calls for "pragmatic nationalism" — accepting beneficial exchanges while firmly resisting unlawful and coercive operations regardless of country of origin — rather than a China-specific posture.
Why it matters: By naming the US, Japan, Australia, and South Korea alongside China as practitioners of influence operations, the author shifts Manila's policy debate from China-specific containment toward a consistent, sovereignty-first standard. For Philippine policymakers, the argument could complicate alliance management with Washington and Tokyo while reinforcing domestic oversight of all external engagements — espionage, cyber intrusions, and covert funding treated as equally unacceptable.
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