Journalists reporting on the conflict in the South China Sea should always focus on its “root cause,’’ retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Renato Carpio told a conference on investigative journalism on Tuesday, April 30.
Carpio, book author Marites Vitug and fisherman Leonardo Cuaresma at the Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) in Zambales spoke at the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s third Investigative Journalism Conference (IJCon).
The root cause in the South China Sea dispute is very clear. China is seizing, invading our island territories and maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea.
retired supreme court senior associate justice antonio carpio
“The root cause in the South China Sea dispute is very clear. China is seizing, invading our island territories and maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea,’’ he said at the breakout session on geopolitics and security.
It’s not a dispute between China and the United States, as Beiing claims, but between China and the Philippines, he said.
Journalists should communicate this because China “is changing the narrative that this is a battle’’ between Beijing and Washington, he added.
“You have to help us defend our maritime zones and island-territories,’’ the retired SC justice told the journalists.
The United States has interest in the dispute because it’s a defense ally of the Philippines, and so do the other countries because the “high seas’’ in the South China Sea “belong to all mankind,’’ he said.
If Beijing succeeds in claiming the high seas, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) “will collapse,’’ he said. If this happens, the Philippine will have to buy warships and war planes to protect its maritime zones.
Three years after the Senate voted to remove the US air and naval bases in the Philippines in 1992, China seized Mischief Reef (Panganiban Reef). It has since fortified it into a military base. Then in 2012, it occupied Scarborough Shoal.
Both Mischief Reef and Scarborough Shoal are within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Vitug, a co-founder of PCIJ, said there are many ways for the press to counter China’s false narratives on the South China Sea mainly spread through Filipino “proxies,’’ sponsorship of journalists’ trips and ad placements in local papers, and “echo chamber.’’
One of the antidotes [to pro-Beijing disinformation] is to make the public aware of these and debunk them, or even pre-bunk them. This means we can flag these false narratives even before they appear on social media.’’
rappler editor at large marites Danguilan vitug on disinformation
“Of course, one of the antidotes is to make the public aware of these and debunk them, or even pre-bunk them. This means we can flag these false narratives even before they appear on social media,’’ she said.
She also advised journalists to be aware of “false balance.’’
She went on to cite The Guardian’s description of the phrase: “When the evidence is clear-cut, the assumption that good journalism still requires mutually opposed views to be treated equally doesn’t hold anymore. Both sides are not necessarily equal.’’
“International law is on our side,’’ Vitug said, referring to the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s 2016 ruling invalidating China’s sweeping claims to the whole of South China Sea, “yet reporters call these disputed areas.’’
It is “disputed’’ only from China’s point of view, not the Philippines’, she said.
Journalists can fact-check Beijing’s propaganda by collaborating with civil society groups, academics and experts, and even other countries, and mount media literacy campaigs by informing the public on how to detect fake news, she added.
At the same time, Vitug urged government agencies to invest resources to study disinformation from local proxies, and track down sources of false news, including the patterns, trends and messages.
Cuaresma, leader of fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc, admitted that some of his colleagues were being swayed by “pro-China’’ people to deny China Coast Guard ships’ aggression in the Scarborough Shoal.
I’m standing my ground in this fight. Because I see it as a big loss to fellow Filipino fishermen if foreigners fully possess this area
leonardo cuaresma, new masinloc fisherman’s association
“But as a leader, I’m standing my ground in this fight. Because I see it as a big loss to fellow Filipino fishermen if foreigners fully possess this area,’’ he said.
He said they were seeing a ray of hope given President Marcos Jr.’s strong stance against China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea, a complete departure from the tack of former President Rodrigo Duterte who cozied up to China. — TJ Burgonio