Antonio Trillanes and Jay Tarriela have some fundamental characteristics in common which qualify them to be the present dispensation’s most ardent propagandists.
Both men are masters of using old, discredited data and spurious events or incidents to back up their outlandish claims. They are birds of a feather.
First off, let us analyze Jay Tarriela’s latest caper, that one involving an alleged poisoning of the waters in the South China Sea, dynamite and cyanide fishing, etc. It was pointed out by radio broadcast Cathy Cruz that Tarriela came out with this issue on April 21, 2026 when in fact the same charge of cyanide use allegedly by the Chinese side occurred months ago.
The photo of a bottle of “poison” that Tarriela showed to bolster his claim has Chinese markings, and those who can read Chinese said it was a bottle of detergent.
Tarriela must have been trying to see how far the Filipinos’ level of credulity can go. That is his job for the last several years, touting and peddling the US line in this part of Asia. Anything just to spite China, which is considered by America as its main contender in the superpower game.
The Chinese Coast Guard has released many videos showing how the Philippine side is violating environmental and marine regulations in the South China Sea, beginning with the burning of waste in the grounded Sierra Madre on Feb. 28, 2025, and the discharge of garbage in the waters. Discarded oil drums and two black barrel-shaped objects were thrown into the sea by Filipino soldiers manning the grounded vessel. (April 18, 2026 and Feb. 26, 2026)
The Chinese Embassy Manila, backed by evidential videos, authoritatively said, “A repeat offender of marine pollution, the Philippine side has seriously damaged the marine ecosystem and affected the safe navigation of passing vessels.”
Turning now to Antonio Trillanes, the former senator whose popular support and credibility have sunk so low that he has been reduced to a loudspeaker for original and discredited mouthpieces named Arturo Lascanas and Edgar Matobato. Antonio’s latest friend is Ramil Madriaga, an alleged leader of a kidnap-for-ransom operation, convicted by the Pasig RTC, but later was acquitted by the Supreme Court.
In the fishing expedition for evidence against Vice President Sara Duterte at the House of Representatives Committee on Justice, Trillanes presented figures about billions of pesos allegedly received by individual members of the Duterte family from drug syndicates.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said it is not the source of the documents and information attached by Trillanes in his complaint with the Office of the Overall Deputy Ombudsman in September, 2017 — the same figures Trillanes is now peddling before the House committee.
Trillanes claimed a Davao City businessman was a drug lord without offering any evidence or official document or report, just to spite the Dutertes.
Like Tarriela, Trillanes is fixated on weaving tall tales, full of holes, and disingenuously selling these stories to the public.
Filipinos should activate their truth filters and critical thinking mechanisms whenever these two men open their mouths.
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