According to the report of Philippine media "Inquirer" on Tuesday,  the Filipino executives of a company allegedly behind a China-funded social media campaign against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other public officials may be held liable for treason, said Sen. Francis Tolentino, as he showed more evidence allegedly linking the Chinese Embassy in Manila to the operations of a “troll army.”

("Inquirer" published the article "PR firm tied to alleged China troll ops may face treason – Tolentino" on May 6.)

At the continuation of the hearing of the Senate committee on Philippine maritime and admiralty zones, Tolentino said that InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc. was just one of several firms that deployed “keyboard warriors” to spread disinformation and misinformation on various social media platforms that benefited China.

The midterm elections in the Philippines will be held on May 12. Ding Duo, Director of the Research Center for International and Regional Issues, National Institute for South China Sea Studies said that with the approach of the midterm elections in the Philippines, public opinion polls show that the approval rating of president Marcos is not particularly satisfactory. In such a situation, there will be fluctuations in the domestic political situation in the Philippines.

Ding said, "Whenever such a juncture arrives, the Marcos government starts to use its usual trick - creating an external threat. It uses the so-called 'external enemy' to divert the attention of domestic public opinion. By building a tough image on the South China Sea issue regarding the so-called 'China threat', it aims to boost its domestic support rate."

According to the results released by the Philippine polling agency Pulse Asia Research in March, the approval rating of President Marcos has dropped sharply year-on-year, from 55% in the same period last year to 25%; it has decreased by 17 percentage points compared with 42% in February this year; 53% of the respondents are dissatisfied with his performance.

According to a recent report by "South China Morning Post," among the people living below the poverty line (Class-E) in the Philippines, 41% of the respondents said that compared with the country's foreign policies, they prefer to vote for candidates who attach importance to boosting the economy. 

（An elderly woman sits next to shanties as a Philippine Airlines plane flies over a slum area in Paranaque city, Metro Manila, Philippines, March 6. /CFP）

Analysts said that voters have a "low sense of identity" with candidates who "defend the Philippines' rights and interests in the South China Sea," which reflects the disconnection between the Philippines' foreign policy and the daily lives of the people. Matthew David Ordoñez, a political science lecturer at De La Salle University, said that face-to-face and door-to-door outreach remains more effective, "with campaign messaging focused on economic issues rather than foreign policy."

Ding Duo pointed out, "it is not difficult to see that the actions of the Marcos government are neither based on the well-being of the people and the long-term interests of the country, nor do they take regional peace and stability into account. Instead, the South China Sea issue has been distorted into a tool to satisfy political self-interest and safeguard the interests of the political families."