Philippines Requests US Clarification On COVID Anti-Vacciction Propaganda Operations

JAKARTA - The Philippines is still asking for clarification from the Pentagon regarding a secret US propaganda operation aimed at raising doubts among Filipinos about China's vaccine at the peak of the COVID pandemic, a foreign ministry official said.

Reuters' investigation on June 14 detailed how the Pentagon is running a secret influence campaign in 2020 and 2021 to demean Sinovac's vaccine and other pandemic aid from China across developing countries.

This effort is meant to counter what Washington sees as China's growing geopolitical influence around the world, including in Southeast Asia.

Hal ini dimulai pada masa pemerintahan mantan Presiden Donald Trump dan berakhir beberapa bulan setelah Presiden Joseph Biden menjabat.

"We have not received an official and formal response regarding confirmation, rejection, or anything. We are waiting. We continue to monitor and ask for information," Assistant Foreign Minister Jose Victor Chan-Gonzaga told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee investigating the US information campaign., June 25.

Shortly after the Reuters investigation was published, Chan-Gonzaga said the foreign ministry had contacted the US embassy in Manila through our "routine consultation mechanism" but was referred to the US Department of Defense.

When contacted for further comment, the US embassy also referred Reuters to the US Department of Defense.

A senior Defense Department official quoted by Reuters in a June 14 report admitted the US military was involved in classified propaganda to underestimate Chinese vaccines in developing countries, but declined to provide details.

Senator Imee Marcos, who chaired the Foreign Relations Committee, described the US military campaign as "crime, evil, dangerous, unethical".

Marcos, who is the sister of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, said the number of Filipinos who fell ill and died from COVID was very "surprising".

Nearly 67,000 Filipinos have died from COVID to date, while the number of infected people has reached more than 4.1 million, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data, making the Philippines one of the countries most affected by the pandemic in Southeast Asia.