The Philippines’ maritime dispute with China has spilled into the courts after a top coastguard official filed a cyber libel case against a pro-Beijing influencer over explosive – and, he claims, baseless – allegations that he is a paid asset of the United States.
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Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesman for Philippine Coast Guard operations in the West Philippine Sea, lodged a complaint on Friday at the Manila prosecutor’s office against Sass Rogando Sasot, a popular vlogger currently based in Beijing.
The case is unprecedented: the first known libel lawsuit arising directly from the online information war surrounding the Philippines’ increasingly fraught stand-off with China in the contested South China Sea.
According to Tarriela’s complaint, Sasot falsely accused him on social media of receiving a US$4 million “talent fee” from Washington, and of collecting bags of cash from the residence of House Speaker Martin Romualdez as payment for criticising Beijing’s actions in the West Philippine Sea – Manila’s term for the part of the South China Sea it claims as its own.
She also alleged he had been expelled from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) for cheating.
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China and Philippines clash over disputed Sandy Cay in the Spratly Islands
China and Philippines clash over disputed Sandy Cay in the Spratly Islands
In an interview with This Week in Asia, Tarriela said the accusations had taken a deep personal toll. “Absolutely,” he said, when asked if the claims had affected his family.