Philippines not receiving war equipment from Japan, others, says AFP chief
The chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Sunday denied that the Philippines has been receiving war equipment from other countries amid Chinese incursion in the West Philippine Sea.
In a radio interview, Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said the text messages that circulated on social media about war equipment being delivered by countries such as Japan, United States, and Australia are "fake news".
The said equipment reportedly landed in the Clark Airbases.
"The news circulating on social media right now is not true," Sobejana said.
"That news about war equipment from the US, from Japan and Australia that is arriving (in the country), just to be clear to the public, that is not true," he added.
Sobejana said there will be no war between the Philippines and China.
The message allegedly came from a certain Archbishop Martinez and was sent by a certain General David.
Sobejana said the public should only share factual news as this kind of posts only causes panic.
"We should be responsible in sharing information," he said.
"I already gave a directive to find out how this kind of news circulated that is only causing panic to the people," he added.
The alleged post in social media surfaced as Chinese vessels continue to swarm in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) despite the diplomatic protests filed by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Sobejana said they continue to deploy ships and do sovereignty patrols to protect the country's exclusive economic zone.
"As part of the national task force on the West Philippine Sea, we deploy ships to our western command so that we can continuously conduct sovereignty patrol in our exclusive economic zone," he said.
"What is important is our presence. We must continue to protect our exclusive economic zone," he added. Ella Dionisio/DMS
