Video Transcript / Subtitles:( AI generated. About AI subtitles » )

* AI ("Artificial Intelligence") subtitles on Tagalog.com are generated using "Whisper" by OpenAI (the same company that created ChatGPT and DallE2). Results and accuracy may vary.
* The subtitles do include errors occasionally and should only be used as a tool to help with your listening practice.
* You can request this website to create a transcript for a video if one doesn't already exist by clicking the "Request AI Subtitles" button below a video. Transcribing usually takes 30-40% of the length of a video to complete if there are no other videos in the queue. For example, a 21 minute video will take 7-8 minutes to transcribe.
* Running a super fast cloud GPU server to do these transcriptions does cost money. If you have the desire and financial ability, consider becoming a patron to support these video transcriptions, and the other tools and apps built by Tagalog.com

...pako de masindok and prevent Filipino fishers from accessing their traditional fishing routes.

But the Philippine Coast Guard has yet to confirm this.

And the National Security Council also said the report needs to be validated first.

We are alarmed by this development na nangyayaring ito.

But, you know, partner, we have to be careful also.

So we have to validate and investigate.

Now, meanwhile, what the PCG or Philippine Coast Guard was able to confirm

is that the Chinese Coast Guard has removed the floating barriers that they put up in the mouth of the masindok.

Now, up until a few days ago, satellite image showed that the barriers were still there at the mouth of the shoal.

Assistant National Security Council Director Jonathan Malaya says that the Chinese Coast Guard dismantled these barriers themselves.

When ang nangyayaring dito,

is noong umalis na yung ating BIFAR vessels, no?

And tinanggal na rin nila.

Ah, okay.

So habang nandun yung ating BIFAR vessel, nandun yung barrier.

Pero immediately after,

nang pag-alis ng BIFAR,

ay tinanggal na rin nila, no?

Siguro natatakot na rin silang utunin.

O, o, di ba, naalala ko yung utunin.

Nagbili na nga si National Security Council

sa Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

na kukuha daw, mag-collect ng evidence

to be able to prove kung talagang may cyanide phishing happening in the area.

Because then that's environmental damage.

Kasi it's one way that they've seen gumagamit ng cyanide

but it's another, also, to prove it.

Yeah, that's right. I mean, did you actually see the blast that detonated the cyanide?

Although, sabi nga naman si Gina, if you take a look at the coral reef in Baja Dimansino,

talagang destroyed. Siya damaged na.

At yun nga, wala pang evidence na talagang nakikita mo ba yung Vietnamese fishermen?

Yes.

Yes, correct.

So, that they have the evidence.

Tsaka yung sinasabi, yung intentional, yun yung sinabi ng mga Pilipinong fishermen,

intentional na mas sira. Pero cyanide phishing, it's a, you know, an ancient,

oh my God, yun man ancient, pero old problem, old method of phishing.

So, is carbon shoal becoming a geopolitical flashpoint once again?

As always, when we need some hard answers, we call it carbon shoal.

As always, when we need some hard answers, we call it carbon shoal.

And our fellow One News host, Richard Hedaria, who's also a political analyst and senior lecturer

at the UP Asian Center. Ang hirap naman nun. That's a big, hard question to answer, no?

How are you, Richard?

I'm good. Sana meron din kayong vlogger influencer as one of my ads.

Lahat na lang. Sige, showbiz din.

We will add it next time. But, yeah, your thoughts on what's going on

at the Scarborough at Bajo de Masingo. Kaming, we were tackling two stories just now.

First, the potential, I underscored the word potential, potential cyanide phishing.

And then also, the dangerous maneuvers which happened several days ago,

supposedly by the Chinese Coast Guard, and also the floating barriers,

which as of tonight, as far as we know, has been taken down.

But still, again, these like small incidents, what do you make of it?

Yeah, I mean, unang-una, I think this is a good reminder that we're, you know,

it's a good reminder that we're facing multiple ticking time bombs there in the West Philippine Sea.

Of course, the Ayungin Shul, the second time our shore took a lot of our attention

over the past six months or so because of the multiple incidents,

the water canoning, the disruption of our resupply mission,

our hopes to fortify our position there without triggering any kind of conflict with China.

But, let's not forget, there's also the reed bank situation.

We still don't know what are we going to do about it. Are we going to develop the resources there?

And then, not to mention, Scarborough Shoal, no?

Which is the beginning, essentially, of, you know, of what we're going to do about it. And then, not to mention, Scarborough Shoal, no?

Which is the beginning, essentially, of, you know,

a new era in Philippine foreign policy.

I mean, after the incidents in Scarborough Shoal in 2012, the Philippines has not been the same

in terms of our foreign policy, in terms of domestic discussion,

in terms of awareness of what's happening in the West Philippine Sea.

Now, going back to this, of course, I defer to the officials to confirm whether, you know,

what's being reported is the case.

But, if ever it turns out true, I mean, it's not totally shocking or surprising, right?

Because remember, back in the day, during the Duterte administration,

there were reports by some,

some media channels and journalists about, you know, Chinese maritime forces

or fishermen doing something, you know, very destructive to our environment.

In fact, there was a study by the Marine Sciences Institute in Yupi a few years ago

that put the ecological environmental damage conservatively at hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

So, I think this is just the, if ever true, or even if it's not true,

the reality is that we're facing a very difficult condition during the Scarborough Shoal.

If I'm not mistaken, you mentioned Vietnam also may have been involved in this.

I think that's another thing that we have to keep in mind because the Vietnam aspect is very important.

As you know, President Marcos was just in Vietnam the other week.

We discussed maritime security cooperation.

We discussed building a common front within ASEAN and beyond ASEAN

in dealing with China on a mini-lateral front.

But we also know that, you know, Vietnam also has some overlapping claims with us.

And the Vietnamese fishermen have been entering our waters.

And there were some deadly incidents in the past.

I think 2017, there was an incident between Philippine Navy and the Vietnamese fishermen.

So, it's not only China, it's also Vietnam, except it's not at the same level.

You know, the kind of harassment we're facing from China,

the 9-line claim of China is incomparable to what Vietnam is doing.

So, what that means is, I won't be surprised, some pro-China elements in the Philippines and propagandists

will try to exaggerate any Vietnamese angle, possibly, to what's happening in the Scarborough Shoal or beyond.

So, that's the other thing I'm also watching out for right now.

Just to clarify for all our viewers, it was a statement of the Filipino fishermen in Bajo de Masinlo.

They said, allegedly, it was Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen.

And I think authorities are busy trying to verify that as well as the cyanide fishing accusations as well.

But what do you make of that barrier removal?

Is that kind of China taking a step back and saying, you know, well, if people do see a barrier, maybe they'll really pin us?

Ask the bad guys here.

What's going on?

Is it something like that, maybe?

Yeah, I think the Chinese are still scratching their head and scrambling for a response to the Philippines

kasi itong proactive transparency initiative ng Philippine Coast Guard,

itong mga madal-dal natin mga kaibigan na mga spokesman sa Philippine Coast Guard,

this is something very shocking to China.

I think they've been struggling.

Last time I checked, I think even the Twitter account of Philippine Coast Guard was hacked or something.

And there was an accusation that some friends, maybe, from the other side were involved in this.

So, I think China is really struggling.

In fact, I saw some of the commentaries in China recently in some of their newspaper

where some Chinese experts are suggesting that it's time for them to show their sword.

That's the terminology that they're using.

So, I'm absolutely certain that there are very vehement debates within the Chinese maritime forces establishment

on how to best deal with the Philippines because they're looking for their own Goldilocks approach, right?

They want to be tough and strong enough to impress their own people and dissuade the Philippines.

But at the same time, I think the Chinese also are wondering.

I mean, you don't want to give the Marcos administration even more reasons to fortify its relationship with the United States

and give more reasons to Japan, Australia, and the U.S. to come to the picture.

So, it's a very delicate balancing act also on the part of China.

But one thing that I think all of us have to keep in mind is that, you know,

not the black swan, but the gray rhino here is the role of militia forces and some Chinese fishermen

who may not necessarily be doing things on the command of the Chinese military or officials.

So, there's some rogue elements there, including perhaps the one who was behind the Reed Bank incident in 2019.

If you remember, we still don't know exactly what happened there.

It looks like a Chinese militia was involved in that.

And we don't know how much of command structure following a compliance is happening there.

So, actually, one thing we're very worried about is crazy rogue activities by militia forces or, let's say, overseas.

Or zealous fishermen from other rival claimants there.

And it takes just one lethal incident or fatal accident for things to get out of control,

especially given how tense things are right now.

Now, PBBM urging, or continuing, urging BFAR and PCG's presence in the waters, in our waters, in our territory.

Sa tingin mo ba, Prof, this will steer tension? Tama ba na magsalita siya ng ganon on this part right after the recent incident?

Well, I think this is a new era for the Philippines in terms of, you know, in terms of maturation.

I mean, let's be honest. Ang gulo ng foreign policy natin.

Misan besi tayo ng China. Misan ayon natin sa China.

So, now, finally, I think the Philippines is trying to draw the line and say we have no problem with diplomacy with China,

which is exactly the position of President BBM.

He has had multiple conversation with Xi Jinping and Chinese leadership over the past year or so.

But there has to be red lines.

And the Philippines has to gain the respect of China.

Of course, grudgingly, by standing its ground.

It's not going to be riskless, but it's part of the maturation of our maritime strategy in this part of the world.

I mean, if you look at all our officials from National Security Council, from the Philippine Coast Guard, among others.

Of course, as a West Philippine Sea so-called expert, I deal with these people.

And I'm very impressed by their learning curve.

And I'm also impressed by how proactive they have been.

Again, this is not riskless.

But let's not forget, we are doing this because we are being bullied.

So, let's not gaslight.

Let's not gaslight ourselves.

You know, this is the problem.

A lot of strategic gaslighting is happening.

Philippines is being blamed when, in fact, we're just defending what is ours.

And China's nine-dash line has no basis in international law.

The maturation of our West Philippine Sea strategy, I love that.

But if you think the strategy in the past several years has been confusing,

what's one thing you'd like to see clearly?

Let's pretend that the President is watching right now.

What's one thing you would ask him?

Oh, he is watching now. I'm just kidding.

I mean, for me, there's still room for improvement.

I don't want to lose the opportunity of interviewing someone.

I'm just kidding.

No, I mean, the thing is, you know, sometimes, you know, some officials I think are kind of,

maybe they have the midterm elections in mind, right?

I think there's some officials there who are kind of compensating for their total silence during the Duterte years.

Okay, I'm not going to name names.

But I think, you know, medyo hinay-hinay lang tayo.

Let's leave this to the DFA.

Let's leave this to National Security Council.

Let's leave this to the Philippine Coast Guard.

Let's leave this to the President, right?

And as I said before, you know, I'd rather have the DFA and the President take a lead rhetorically on this

and as much as I think National Security Council and PCG are doing a good job.

But I think the problem sometimes is that a lot of people are trying to, I don't know,

it kind of comes off as grandstanding, right?

And compensation for their past silence.

But again, for me, it's part of the maturation process, right?

You're going to make mistakes.

There's going to be some, you know, excesses here and there.

But I'm generally optimistic about the direction of Philippine policy.

Having said that, as I always said, you have to prepare for contingency.

Things could get ugly.

And I won't be surprised.

China will indeed show its sword, kumbaga, you know, metaphorically, if not figuratively at some point,

just to test how much the consensus in the Philippines holds.

Because the consensus, as you talk also to our good friend Professor Rai from OCTA,

if you look at almost all key surveys, they show that majority of Filipinos want us to take a tough stance against China.

I'm sure there's some in China saying,

Tignan nga natin kung matapang talaga sila, e-test nga natin yung limits nila.

So this is where things are going to get tricky and that's why we have to be prepared.

Not only operationally, but also in terms of propaganda.

Because a lot of our pro-China friends in the Philippines are ready to exaggerate anything

to instill fear and diffidence into the heart of the Filipino people.

I'm not saying it will work, but I'm saying we have to be prepared for that.

I get what you're saying because sometimes all that noise just does nothing but muddy the water, essentially.

So it sounds like we're all over the place.

We're going to have to leave that there for now.

But as always, thanks so much for your insights.

That was Richard Higaric, political analyst and senior lecturer at the UP Asia Center.

One news host and also...

Vlogger! Influencer, yeah.

Influencer!

So we're the influencer vloggers.

We'll talk about Prabowo, TikTok, Indonesia and all.

Naging fake news tuloy.

Because I wanted to show my TikTok expertise.

But thank you very much as always. I appreciate this.

Thank you again next time.

God bless.

We're going to have to pause for a very quick...

Thank you guys.