By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
Last Tuesday, controversial public relations firm InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc. presented to the media its CEO, Mr. Paul Li, like a king laid bare on a chessboard. But make no mistake. This presscon in Quezon City was a well-rehearsed display of damage control.
For a PR firm hurled with accusations of espionage, this was a bold move but pretty textbook in messaging: deny, deflect, humanize. Yes, they admitted, the Chinese embassy is a client. No, they insisted, they are not in the business of spying or doing things illegally. So, please don’t blame Li just because he’s Chinese.
That’s pretty much what their Filipino lawyer said firmly. Lokohin mo’ng lelang mo!
Forget the feel-good talk about pantries and donations — that press conference was a smokescreen. Behind the soft PR and sob stories is a firm whose top client is the Chinese state, which is openly waging psychological, legal, and public-opinion warfare on the Philippines. That’s weaponizing press statements and releases.
And if you think this idea of espionage and controlling narratives is just us in media deliriously imagining things, here’s what: Just a day before, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) exposed another “incident” which to me is evident China’s encroachment not in the seas but here in our very capital.
A suspected Chinese national was caught with an IMSI-catcher — a spy-grade device that masquerades as a cellphone tower to intercept mobile data. He loitered near the Supreme Court, the DOJ, the BIR, and even the Comelec. The device harvested identities from roughly 5,000 mobile phones. Translation: they weren’t just eavesdropping — they were mapping. Mapping conversations, connections, patterns — perhaps even voter behavior. Right before the midterm elections.
Let’s stop pretending this is all coincidental. This isn’t isolated. This is a chessboard.
An International Institute on Strategic Studies (ISS) report in 2024 already explained these developments. According to its study, Disinformation Campaigns in the Asia-Pacific, China’s information operations are not just about controlling narratives — they’re about subduing will, sowing division, and bending sovereign nations without firing a shot.
In the Philippines, China floods the discourse with soft propaganda: pro-Beijing voices, anti-US messaging, and praise for compliant local politicians. The strategy? Make Filipinos second-guess their alliances, their claims, their convictions.
China calls it “perceptual preparation of the battlefield.” It doesn’t need to take territory by force when it can occupy minds — through social media, messaging apps, online influencers, fake news farms, and now, perhaps, by piggybacking on PR firms posing as “friendship builders.” Its arsenal includes the Ministry of State Security, the PLA’s cyber operatives, and its propaganda machine — all grinding daily to rewrite what Filipinos see, hear, and believe.
Even the Comelec itself has admitted it’s under a “disinformation campaign.” But it’s not just about delegitimizing institutions anymore. The presence of spyware near electoral offices raises the specter that China is now tinkering with the electoral ecosystem itself. Influence operations are giving way to influence engineering.
And while some may shrug and say, “Well, it’s just narratives,” they miss the point. Narratives shape minds. Minds shape votes. Votes shape nations. China knows this. That’s why it’s playing the long game — and Filipinos are the prize.
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