President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.  and 10 senatorial candidates of the administration's Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas campaign in Trece Martires, Cavite, on March 21, 2025. Bongbong Marcos/Facebook

MANILA (UPDATED) —  The administration senatorial ticket Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas said Friday it is alarmed at China's "possible interference in the upcoming elections," calling it a threat to national integrity.

Chinese Embassy hired troll farm to spread disinformation — Tolentino

"Disclosures by the country’s top security officials on possible foreign interference in the upcoming elections are truly alarming and concerning... This is not just a political issue. It is a matter of national security," the group said.

During a Senate hearing led by Sen. Francis Tolentino — an Alyansa candidate — on Thursday, the National Security Council said it has identified candidates who are allegedly helping spread narratives from China to influence the upcoming midterm elections. 

NSC flags possible Chinese interference in Philippine elections

Tolentino also said that the Chinese Embassy had hired Makati-based InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc. to allegedly criticize the government and spread disinformation.

The firm would provide "dedicated keyboard warriors play a vital role in the overall effectiveness of the issue management project,” according to a supposed agreement with the embassy that Tolentino presented at the hearing.

"There are indications that information operations are being conducted that are Chinese state sponsored in the Philippines and are actually interfering in the forthcoming elections," NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said.

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Alyansa urged Philippine authorities to investigate NSC's report "with urgency" and "protect the sanctity of our elections."

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"The right of every Filipino to freely choose their leaders—without manipulation, pressure, or foreign influence—is non-negotiable. Any attempt to interfere in that process is a direct violation of our national integrity and must be condemned in the strongest terms," the group said.

China says has 'no interest' in interfering in Philippine elections

“I don’t think we can ever countenance such practice of hiring our own local companies and our own people to do damage against our very own interests,” House Deputy Majority Leader Jude Acidre of Tingog Party-list said in a separate statement.

The House leader said the Philippines should consider seeking help from members of the diplomatic corps to counter alleged Chinese influence “in the hopes of getting a favorable policy in our sovereign country.”

He said, however, that “at the end of the day, and most especially on the crucial election day itself, everything will still boil down to Team Pilipinas versus Team China.”

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun denied Thursday that Beijing is interested in interfering in the Philippines’ midterm elections next month.

TAIWANESE MONITORING OF CHINA DISINFORMATION

The Taiwan FactCheck Center reported last November that it had monitored "Chinese false information narratives propagated on social media or websites" during the US election campaign.

These included attacks on candidates, misrepresentation of policies, casting doubt on election integrity, and stoking fear "about the outcome of the election if a specific candidate was elected."

It said the most common tactic used in these false narratives was "distorting statements or providing incomplete information and images."

The center also monitored disinformation during Taiwan's own elections in January 2024. 

Among the narratives highlighted were "anxiety" about a potential war with China.

Common themes in the disinformation pieces that it had fact-checked were that the Taiwanese military is too weak, the People’s Republic of China’s is too formidable, and that the US cannot protect Taiwan and would abandon it.

"In 2023, a pivotal year before the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election, when the outcome may affect Taiwan’s relations with China and the US, the disinformation trend focusing on the coming conflict between China and Taiwan [intensified]," it said in its report.

"Similar disinformation aimed at instilling fear [have] surfaced whenever critical local or international events occur." 

For more news and features on Philippine elections, visit the ABS-CBN News' Halalan 2025 page.

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