DND: Chinese Embassy response to Teodoro is evasive, deceptive

Philippines' Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr attends the sixth plenary session of the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on May 31, 2026.

AFP / Jam Sta Rosa

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of National Defense (DND) criticized the Chinese Embassy on Sunday following its response to Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.’s earlier remarks regarding statements from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

In a statement on Sunday, August 16, Assistant Secretary Arseno Andolong said that the embassy’s official reply completely failed to provide concrete answers, opting instead for rhetorical questions and evasive language.

“This is a classic example of evasiveness and a badge of deception. This is in legal practice an implied admission of culpability,” Andolong said.

“They cannot hide behind their disingenuous misinformation,” he added.

The agency’s response came after the Chinese Embassy issued a statement accusing Teodoro of distorting facts concerning the arrest of several Chinese workers at a steel plant in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.

The arrests involved 69 Chinese workers after authorities raided the Philippine Sanjia-Steel Corp. in Misamis Oriental last May.

The operation was conducted by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies.

Teodoro maintained on August 15 that the foreign nationals arrested at the steel facility were involved in unlawful operations.

He cited specific violations, including the processing of substandard, radioactively contaminated steel, the discharge of untreated polluted wastewater into nearby rivers and the emission of untreated toxic fumes.

The Chinese Embassy raised questions regarding the Armed Forces of the Philippines' involvement in the raid and asked why the Chinese employees were detained rather than the plant's owners and operators.

After the operations on May 15, Teodoro, in an interview with reporters, said that the plant is owned by Tony Yang, who is the brother of Michael Yang, the former economic adviser to detained former President Rodrigo Duterte.