February 18, 2026 | During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay Forum, ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐จ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ค๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐, highlighted that ๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐จ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ compared to two or three years ago.
According to Commodore Tarriela, the ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ง ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ค ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ by personalities or lawmakers who aim to โ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐งโ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐.
He added that the ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ that it got from the legal battles years ago through the ๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ by the government to counter false narratives that are being publicly disseminated.
He also debunked the idea that the Philippines and China are now in a period of “๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ซ,” but rather called it “๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐,” which is part of the misinformation campaign.
He also assured the public that the ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ it is not in its policy to settle differences in the West Philippine Sea through war or conflict.
