Philippines-China sea dispute also legal battlefield with cyber suit

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3317042/philippines-china-sea-dispute-moves-legal-battlefield-cyber-libel-suit

This Week in Asia Politics: The Philippines

Philippines-China sea dispute moves to legal battlefield with cyber libel suit

Top Philippine coastguard official takes action against pro-Beijing influencer for claiming that he is a paid US asset

By Raissa Robles  Published: 10:38pm, 4th Jul 2025

The Philippines’ maritime dispute with China has spilled into the courts after a top coastguard official filed a cyber libel case against a pro-Beijing influencer over explosive – and, he claims, baseless – allegations that he is a paid asset of the United States.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesman for Philippine Coast Guard operations in the West Philippine Sea, lodged a complaint on Friday at the Manila prosecutor’s office against Sass Rogando Sasot, a popular vlogger currently based in Beijing.

The case is unprecedented: the first known libel lawsuit arising directly from the online information war surrounding the Philippines’ increasingly fraught stand-off with China in the contested South China Sea.

According to Tarriela’s complaint, Sasot falsely accused him on social media of receiving a US$4 million “talent fee” from Washington, and of collecting bags of cash from the residence of House Speaker Martin Romualdez as payment for criticising Beijing’s actions in the West Philippine Sea – Manila’s term for the part of the South China Sea it claims as its own. (End quote)

The SCMP added: https://youtu.be/JYjRY4PWP6k

happy trails ppl