National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya on Monday pressed the Chinese Embassy in Manila to fully address allegations of Chinese meddling in the May 2025 elections, insisting that mere denials are not enough.
Malaya issued the statement as Philippine officials refuted China’s claim that it had seized Sandy Cay, a sandbar located just two nautical miles off Palawan province.
“I urge the Chinese Embassy to explain the cheque that was exposed by Senator [Francis] Tolentino. Blanket denials will not suffice. The document was released during a hearing—there’s a contract, there’s a cheque issued by the Chinese government, the Chinese embassy, made out to Infinitus Marketing, a company clearly engaged in influencing political discourse,” Malaya said at a press conference.
He was referring to a Senate hearing led by Tolentino last week, during which the senator presented a service agreement dated August 2023. The agreement was between the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, represented by Wu Chenqi, director of the embassy’s media and public relations office, and InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc., represented by marketing director Myka Poynton.
Tolentino alleged that the contract involves the deployment of keyboard warriors tasked with spreading narratives favorable to China.
At the same hearing, Malaya said there were signs that China is attempting to interfere in the upcoming May 2025 elections by backing certain candidates.
“So rather than making these claims about seizing Sandy Cay, they should first explain to the world and to the Filipino people why they are meddling in our internal affairs. Why are they trying to sway the political discourse in our country, which no diplomatic mission should ever engage in?” Malaya said.
In a separate press conference on Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun reiterated that “China follows the principle of non-interference in other countries’ domestic affairs” and claimed that Beijing has “no interest in interfering in Philippine elections.”
