Center for Information Resilience and Integrity Studies - CIRIS

21/05/2026

On 16 May 2026, a joint DND-PAOCC-AFP-NBI-PNP team executed a court-authorized raid at Phil. Sanjia Steel Corporation inside PHIVIDEC in Misamis Oriental.

They found 69 undocumented Chinese nationals, hazardous materials, and suspected substandard steel. All were in a plant sitting beside a Philippine Navy facility under construction.

This is a case of national security, worker welfare, and public safety through two years of investigation.

But there is an equally important story playing out in the information environment.

Three misleading frames are already circulating: that the raid is cover for a US base plan; that the government victimized the workers; and that this is anti-Chinese racism. All three are wrong. And all three do the same thing: redirect attention away from the accountability questions that matter.
The real questions: Who are the five incorporators still at large? What did the medical exams find? Has substandard steel entered our buildings?

Share verified information. Hold accountability. And don't let anyone change the subject.

The full CIRIS Citizen Brief on this disinformation operation is free and available now.

Download the full guide here:

https://lab.ciris.org.ph

[FILIPINO TRANSLATION]

Noong May 16, 2026, nagsagawa ng raid na awtorisado ng korte ang joint team ng DND-PAOCC-AFP-NBI-PNP sa Phil. Sanjia Steel Corporation sa loob ng PHIVIDEC sa Misamis Oriental.

Nakahanap sila ng 69 na undocumented na Chinese nationals, mga delikadong materyales, at mga hinihinalang substandard na steel o asero. At lahat 'yan ay sa isang planta na nakapwesto sa tabi mismo ng isang pasilidad ng Philippine Navy na ginagawa pa lang.

Kaso ito ng national security, welfare ng mga manggagawa, at public safety. Dalawang taong imbestigasyon ang kinailangan para makabuo ng ebidensya.

Pero may isa pang kasing-halagang kwento na nangyayari ngayon pagdating sa pagkalat ng impormasyon.

May tatlong nakakalitong anggulo, naratibo, o "frames" na kumakalat na: na ang raid daw ay cover-up lang para sa planong US base; na biniktima daw ng gobyerno ang mga trabahador; at isa raw itong anti-Chinese racism. Mali ang tatlong ito. Iisa lang ang ginagawa ng tatlong ito: inililihis nila ang atensyon mula sa mga isyu ng pananagutan (accountability) na mas mahalaga.

Ang mga totoong tanong: Sino yung limang incorporator na nagtatago pa rin ngayon? Ano ang naging resulta ng medical exam ng mga trabahador? Nakapasok o nagamit ba ang mga substandard na asero sa mga building natin?

I-share lang ang mga verified na impormasyon. Maningil ng pananagutan. Huwag hayaang may mag-iba ng usapan.

Libre at available na ngayon ang buong CIRIS Citizen Brief tungkol sa disinformation operation na ito.

I-download ang buong guide dito:

https://lab.ciris.org.ph

08/05/2026

15/04/2026

OPERATION “VACANT LIGHT”

Isang pagsusuri sa “death hoax” na kampanya laban kay President Bongbong Marcos.

Mula January hanggang April 2026, may isang dokumentadong “information operation” na tumakbo ng tatlong buwan para tirahin ang kalusugan at pananatili sa pwesto ng administrasyong Marcos. Tinatawag namin itong Operation “Vacant Light.”

Hindi kami nagtatanggol ng kahit sinong politiko o umaatake sa kahit anong grupo. Ipinapakita lang namin sa inyo kung paano gumagana ang mga diskarte nila, dahil gagamitin at gagamitin ulit ito.

Mag-swipe para malaman ang tungkol sa:
→ Yung pekeng dokumento ng CT scan, kung sino ang nagpakalat nito, at bakit
→ Yung tatlong alon na diskarte na bumuhay sa kwento nila sa loob ng 90 araw
→ Yung AI na newsreader: isang makinarya ng scam-page na ginamit para sa political disinformation
→ Ang “liar’s dividend”: kung bakit ‘di mo na kailangang gumawa ng peke para lang pagdudahin ang mga tao sa kung ano ang totoo
→ Tatlong tanong na dapat mong itanong bago ka mag-share ng kahit ano
→ Ang mga napatunayang katotohanan

Libre at pwede nang mabasa ang buong CIRIS Public Awareness Brief tungkol sa disinformation operation na ito.

I-download ang buong gabay rito:
https://lab.ciris.org.ph

15/04/2026

OPERATION “VACANT LIGHT”

A deep dive into the “death hoax” conspiracy campaign on President Bongbong Marcos.

Between January and April 2026, a documented information operation ran for three months targeting the health and continuity of the Marcos administration. We are calling it Operation “Vacant Light.”

We are not defending any politician or attacking any community. We are showing you how the techniques worked, because they will be used again.

Swipe through to learn:

→ The fake CT scan document, and who spread it — and why
→ The three-wave structure that kept the narrative alive for 90 days
→ The AI newsreader: a scam-page infrastructure repurposed for political disinformation
→ The liar’s dividend: why you don’t need to produce a fake to cast doubt on the real
→ Three questions to ask before you share anything
→ The established facts

The full CIRIS Public Awareness Brief on this disinformation operation is free and available now.

Download the full guide here:
https://lab.ciris.org.ph

13/04/2026

Kumokonti na ang suplay ng sariwang isda sa mga pamilihan ng Maynila. Alamin kung bakit.
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Center for Information Resilience and Integrity Studies - CIRIS

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11/04/2026

A new investigation by PressOne exposes a coordinated network of inauthentic accounts and local influencers amplifying Chinese Embassy attacks against the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).

These operations are clear examples of Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) designed to erode what we in CIRIS call the Trinity of Trust: trust in society, trust in authority, and trust in democratic institutions. Specifically, campaigns that systematically delegitimize independent media represent a direct attack on systemic trust.

As CIRIS Executive Director André del Rosario points out in the report, the attack was a deliberate strike against “media literacy and counter-FIMI education” efforts meant to arm citizens.

Read the full report from PressOne here:

A coordinated network of fake accounts and pro-Duterte influencers amplified Chinese Embassy attacks against the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism to discredit the watchdog’s reporting on pro-Beijing influence operations in the country.

Story in comments

11/04/2026

Ano kaya ang nararanasan ng mga mangingisdang pumapalaot sa West Philippine Sea?​

Center for Information Resilience and Integrity Studies - CIRIS

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10/04/2026

Mula 30,000, naging 10,000. Ganito kalaki ang ibinaba ng kita sa laot.

Center for Information Resilience and Integrity Studies - CIRIS

09/04/2026

Claims are circulating on social media right now that China was supposedly the ‘first to name the islands’ in the West Philippine Sea in 1935. But there’s a huge piece missing from that story: an 1875 map, the Carta General del Archipiélago Filipino. This map shows that Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) and parts of the Spratlys have long been connected to the Philippine archipelago.

Disinformation actors also tend to only bring up the 1898 Treaty of Paris, conveniently forgetting the 1900 Treaty of Washington. This later treaty clarified that the islands belonging to the Philippines, which were left outside the lines drawn in the Paris treaty, are still ours.

So the issue here was never really just about ‘who published a list of names in 1935.’ A naming exercise back then doesn’t wipe out our older maps and treaty history.

(Kinakalat ngayon sa social media na China raw ang “unang nagpangalan sa mga isla” sa West Philippine Sea noong 1935. Pero may malaking kulang sa kwento: Ang 1875 na mapa na Carta General del Archipiélago Filipino. Pinapakita sa mapang ‘to na yung Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) at mga bahagi ng Spratlys ay noon pang konektado na sa arkipelago ng Pilipinas.

Lagi ring binabanggit lamang ang 1898 Treaty of Paris, habang kinakalimutan ang 1900 Treaty of Washington na kinlaro na kasama pa rin sa atin yung mga islang sakop ng Pilipinas na naiwan sa labas ng mga linyang ginuhit sa Paris treaty.

Kaya hindi lang talaga tungkol sa “kung sino ang naglabas ng listahan ng pangalan noong 1935” ang isyu rito. Hindi porket may ginawa silang pagpapangalan noon eh awtomatiko nang mabubura yung mga mas lumang mapa at kasaysayan ng mga treaties natin.)

08/04/2026

Maps are not neutral when they are used to normalize illegal claims. China keeps publishing maps with a dash-line claim over large parts of the South China Sea, including waters within the EEZs of the Philippines (the West Philippine Sea) and other Southeast Asian states, even though the 2016 Arbitral Award found no legal basis for China’s claim to historic rights within that line.

But when the Philippines uses Filipino names for features within its own EEZ and on its own official maps, agencies, and educational materials, Beijing objects. That is the double standard.

Naming your own maritime features is normal state practice. Claiming everyone else’s sea and calling it yours is not.

Tag someone who needs a clear explainer on this. 👇

(Hindi inosente ang mga mapa kapag ginagamit ‘to para i-normalize ang mga ilegal na claim. Paulit-ulit na naglalabas ang China ng mga mapa gamit ang kanilang dash-line claim para angkinin ang malaking bahagi ng South China Sea, kasama na yung mga katubigan na nasa loob ng EEZ ng Pilipinas (ang West Philippine Sea) at ng iba pang bansa sa Southeast Asia. Ginagawa nila ‘to kahit na malinaw na sinabi sa 2016 Arbitral Award na walang legal na basehan ang claim ng China na “historic rights” daw nila sa loob ng linyang ‘yon.

Pero kapag ang Pilipinas na ang gumagamit ng mga Pilipinong pangalan para sa mga lugar sa loob ng sarili nating EEZ at ginagamit ‘to sa mga opisyal nating mapa, ahensya, at materials pang-eskwela, umaangal ang Beijing. ‘Yan ang double standard.

Normal lang sa isang bansa na pangalanan ang sarili nitong teritoryo sa dagat. Pero yung angkinin ang dagat ng iba tapos sabihing sa’yo ‘yon, hindi ‘yon normal.

I-tag mo na yung kailangang makabasa nitong malinaw na explainer. 👇)

08/04/2026

Bakit may frozen na galunggong sa palengke? Ano ang nangyayari sa laot?​​

Center for Information Resilience and Integrity Studies - CIRIS

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