Dennis Gasgonia

Tarriela urges senators who sought his apology to demand one from China over ‘stupid monkey’ video

Article (news)

Bianca Dava

ABS-CBN News

MANILA - Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela expects senators who previously called on him to apologize to China over a caricature to also demand an apology from Beijing over a video depicting the Philippines as a “stupid monkey.” Tarriela was referring to a video uploaded by China Daily, a state-controlled media company, showing the monkey with the trademark Philippine salakot and barong being controlled by the United States and Japan to push the arbitration case decision in the South China Sea.“’Yung video na lumabas na tinatawag ang mga Pilipino na ‘stupid monkey’ o unggoy na tila sunud-sunuran sa utos ng Amerika at ng Japan, at sinasabing ang 2016 Arbitral Award is just a script given to us by the United States—para sa akin, dapat i-call out ito,” Tarriela said in an interview with reporters on Friday.“Hindi dapat ito pinapalagpas, ‘no? This kind of racist behavior of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) should be called out by our government,” he added. The Department of National Defense (DND) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) earlier denounced the offensive video.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/16/chinese-state-media-video-depicting-filipinos-as-monkeys-draws-outrage-2223">Racist Chinese state media video depicting the Philippines as a &#x27;monkey&#x27; draws outrage</a></div>According to Tarriela, the Chinese government should take down the video, stressing that racism has no place in a modern society.“Sa ating society ngayon, at this modern age, wala nang puwang ang racism para maliitin ang kahit na sinong lahi dito sa mundo,” he emphasized. The official went on, “Personally, I will not allow the Chinese government to call me a monkey, to call the Filipinos monkeys. Kahit pa pro-China ka, kahit pa ‘tsinador ka’, kahit pa ang inclination mo is towards the PRC, ang pagbibihis ng unggoy ng barong Tagalog at native hat na mayroon tayo, at pagpapakita na ‘yung unggoy ay magaling kumanta sa videoke—obviously, ang pinag-uusapan dito is yung lahi natin bilang Pilipino.”APOLOGY FROM SENATORSTarriela revisited the controversy over a caricature he previously made involving Chinese President Xi Jinping.He said the caricature was satire and used in an academic setting, and was different from the China Daily video, which was a “racist portrayal of the Filipino people.” “There is a difference between satire and racist portrayal, ‘no? It was a satire and used in an academic setting. It was not publicized dahil gusto ko lang i-provoke or inisin ang China,” Tarriela said.“But this time around, it was a racist portrayal of the Filipino people dahil it was very obvious,” he continued. “There’s no need for you to guess kung sino ‘yung binababoy ng China doon. It is us.” The official specifically referred to Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Robinhood Padilla, among others, who had previously said that Tarriela should apologize to China over the caricature.“Hindi ko naman pinortray na monkey si Xi Jinping. Parang feeling ko nga, pumogi pa siya doon dahil nagka-muscles, di ba?” Tarriela said.He went on, “Ngayon, ang tanong ko sa mga senador… na nagsabing ako raw ang nag-cross ng line last January dahil sa caricature na iyon… hihingan din ba ng mga senador natin na ito ang Chinese Embassy ng sorry dahil tinawag tayong unggoy?” He emphasized that the portrayal in the video was not limited to Filipinos who support the Philippines’ position in the West Philippine Sea.“Ang portrayal ng unggoy dito na naka-barong Tagalog collectively represents the Filipino people,” Tarriela stressed. “Ang pagtawag sa atin na unggoy ay hindi katanggap-tanggap.”<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/7/17/ph-officials-condemn-chinese-state-media-video-racism-has-no-space-in-society-1316">DFA formally protests China Daily&#x27;s &#x27;racist&#x27; depiction of Filipinos in AI propaganda video</a></div>VIDEO UNDERMINES PHILIPPINE STRATEGIC AGENCYAccording to Tarriela, the video sought to undermine the Philippines’ strategic agency by portraying the country as merely following the US and Japan. “Pinapalabas doon na ang desisyon ng ating pamahalaan way back in 2013 na mag-file ng kaso sa Arbitral Court noong 2013, a year after the standoff, was something that was dictated to us by the US,” he said. “Ang ina-undermine nila dito is that we don’t have strategic agency—wala tayong tamang pag-iisip para desisyunan ang ating interes bilang isang bansa, kaya sunud-sunuran lang tayo sa Estados Unidos.”“That’s what they wanted to show sa video na ito—na tayo ay isang mababang uri ng tao na dinidiktahan lamang ng mas malakas na bansa,” he added. The official also noted that Beijing’s disagreement with the 2016 Arbitral Award could not justify its portrayal of Filipinos as monkeys, saying racism is “highly disconnected” from the issue of arbitration. “As to whatever reason they have, ang racial behavior na ginawa nila sa pagpapakita na unggoy ang mga Pilipino can never be justified,” Tarriela stressed. “This is highly disconnected sa issue ng arbitration at sa pagiging racist lang ng PRC.&quot;STRENGTHENING FILIPINO PATRIOTISMThe video could ultimately backfire on China by strengthening Filipino patriotism, according to the PCG official. “Thanks to the China Daily, mas ginalit nila ang mga Pilipino,” Tarriela said.He went on, “Again, awakening the sense of patriotism of any country, not just Filipinos, is very dangerous because it will unite us. For the so many—for the past years—that’s what we wanted to have.” He added that China’s “information campaign” would not improve its image if it is not based on facts, international law, and respect for other people.“Hindi ito nakakapagpaganda ng image ng PRC. So, I don’t think na ganoon sila ka-insensitive to really understand the sentiment, not just of the Filipino people, but the international community na mas paiigtingin nila ang pagiging racist nila,” Tarriela noted. “I think if there’s a calibrated response in information operation, that will be on the part of the PRC to tone down and stop being racist at all,” he further said.<div> </div>

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela expects senators who previously called on him to apologize to China over a caricature to also demand an apology from Beijing over a video depicting the Philippines as a “stupid monkey.”

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela expects senators who previously called on him to apologize to China over a caricature to also demand an apology from Beijing over a video depicting the Philippines as a “stupid monkey.”