Tsinators

By Artchil B. Fernandez

Tsinator rhymes with traitor, as well as chinador with traidor. Nine senators exposed themselves as promoters and protectors of foreign interests. These senators no longer hide behind any mask, openly proclaiming themselves as agents of a foreign power involved in a territorial dispute with the Philippines.

What triggered the nine senators to defend their foreign master was the act of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela. In a presentation on a campus tour, Tarriela caricatured China’s President Xi Jinping. The Chinese Embassy protested what Tarriela did. In defense of Tarriela, 15 senators signed Senate Resolution No. 256, which denounces the Chinese Embassy’s statements against Filipino officials who are critical of Beijing’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea. The resolution also expressed support for Tarriela.

Majority senators who signed Senate Resolution 256 are Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Sens. Erwin Tulfo, Risa Hontiveros, Raffy Tulfo, Sherwin Gatchalian, Loren Legarda, JV Ejercito, Bam Aquino, Camille Villar, Mark Villar, Lito Lapid and Jinggoy Estrada.

The nine senators who sided with China, nationally reviled as tsinators or chinadors, are Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano; Deputy Minority Leaders Rodante Marcoleta and Joel Villanueva; and Francis Escudero, Imee Marcos, Ronald dela Rosa, Robin Padilla and Bong Go. Sen. Pia Cayetano, from the majority, also did not sign Senate Resolution 256.

During the debate on Resolution 256, tsinators or chinadors were vehement in their defense of their foreign master. Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano denounced the resolution’s support for Tarriela. “We cannot pass this resolution saying that Commodore Tarriela is correct because he’s wrong,” Cayetano argued. While Cayetano was passionate in his defense of China’s leader, he was silent on the harassment of Filipino fishermen and the water-cannon attacks on Philippine vessels by China’s coast guard.

Among the tsinators or chinadors, the most shameless and brazen in his defense of foreign interests is Sen. Rodante Marcoleta. He took the opportunity during the debate on Senate Resolution No. 256 to push and magnify China’s position in the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.

Marcoleta questioned the Philippine position on the West Philippine Sea, parroting China’s line. He claimed the West Philippine Sea is a fiction invented by the Philippines. The country failed to show the coordinates of the area, Marcoleta alleged, while presenting China’s coordinates, making him a spokesperson for China.

Ignoring the Philippines’ win at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, Marcoleta asserted that the Kalayaan Group of Islands (KIG) is outside the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Marcoleta then questioned the Philippines’ ownership of the KIG, supporting China’s view on the matter.

At one point in the debate, Marcoleta asked why Filipinos should fight and die for an area that is not ours, in effect ceding the KIG to other claimants such as China. Putting icing on his China cake, Marcoleta suggested the Philippines should give up the KIG.

In Marcoleta’s moronic logic, the Philippines is in dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea and the Kalayaan Group of Islands. To end the territorial dispute, the Philippines should just give up a portion of its territory, according to Marcoleta’s thinking. The fundamental question is: Who benefits from this twisted thinking of Marcoleta? China is the main beneficiary of Marcoleta’s proposal.

It is clear Marcoleta is an agent of China, defending and pushing the interests of his master in the halls of the Philippine Senate. This is the ultimate insult Marcoleta hurled at the Filipino people. He used a platform owned by Filipinos to highlight China’s view and position on the West Philippine Sea. It is treason of the highest level.

The tragedy of the Philippines today is that many high-ranking officials of the country are trashing national interests to serve a foreign agenda. The nine tsinators or chinadors, particularly Marcoleta, are a modern-day reincarnation of the Makapili. The Makapili were Filipino-Japanese spies during World War II. This time, the master of the present-day Makapili is China. Marcoleta is the face of today’s Makapili—traitor and foreign agent.

There is no debate on the issue of the West Philippine Sea. The PCA has invalidated China’s nine-dash line and upheld the Philippine position on the disputed area. The KIG, along with Scarborough Shoal, lies within the Philippine EEZ. They belong to the Philippines, part of the country’s territory. The basis of the PCA decision is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Both the Philippines and China are signatories to UNCLOS, which they also ratified.

Why is it difficult for the tsinators or chinadors, especially Marcoleta, to accept the PCA ruling and the Philippines’ win under UNCLOS? Why do they continue to question Philippine ownership of the West Philippine Sea and the Kalayaan Group of Islands (KIG)? Despite being a municipality of the province of Palawan, Marcoleta and the rest of the tsinators or chinadors refuse to recognize this part of Philippine territory and continue to insist on China’s nullified and invalidated position.

Tsinators or chinadors who undermine and weaken the Philippine position on the West Philippine Sea must be exposed and denounced for who they really are—agents of a foreign power, China. Their loyalty is to their foreign master, not to the Philippines. These Makapili avatars have no place in the country, much less in government offices.