FACT-CHECK: AFP Chief Brawner did not threaten to bomb Chinese vessels

CLAIM: AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner threatened to bomb the China Coast Guards vessels

RATING: FALSE

A YouTube video uploaded by a channel named “Melvs Castle” falsely claimed that the chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had threatened to bomb China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels.

The video featured an interview of Brawner. In the interview, the uploader’s narration falsely asserts that Brawner threatened to bomb the CCG if it attempted to enter the Philippines’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). However, no bombing threats were mentioned in the interview, contrary to what the vlogger claimed.

The clip of the AFP chief presented in the video was from his interview on October 10, where he denied a report stating that CCG drove away a Philippine Navy gunboat in the Scarborough Shoal.

The interview was made after the CCG claimed it took necessary measures to force the gunboat out of “China’s waters.”

“That is just propaganda by the Chinese. It’s not true, there is no truth [to it],” Brawner said.

He added that a Philippine Navy ship would never leave the area even if asked by the CCG because it is the country’s EEZ.

The video, which has been viewed 25,000 times with 161 comments, is propagating a misleading narrative that may escalate tensions over the Philippines and China’s territorial disputes. Angeline Narnola, PressOnePH

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