The fund is assigned to the US State Department and USAID for spending over the next five years to “subsidize” media and civil society sources around the world and “counter Chinese ‘malign influence’ globally.
In the Philippines, this funding is already showing in many State Department and USAID funded reports in mainstream media outlets such as the Philippine Star and popularly known US shills such as Rappler.
These two US info-war outlets I mentioned regularly publish reports on “Chinese influence operations” basing all on materials provided by AidData and Internews, both of which are verifiable as US-funded anti-China operations.
There are tons of evidence of the AidData and Internews ties to the State Dept. and USAID. As well, there are more than enough proof that Philippine Star, Rappler and their ilk are “agents of influence of the US.”
Rappler and AidData for example jointly “launched a journalism training for Filipino journalists, and students” just this September. Philstar of course has Christina Chi and a staff of four writing about “Chinese influence ops” all based on Internews and AidData reports.
Our “mosquito” think tank, Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute (ACPSSII) has researched Internews and AidData, and we discovered the usual US oligarchs and US government donors to Internews. These include Omidyar (which donated at least $1.5-million to Rappler in 2018), Rupert Murdock’s Sky News and stated previously, the State Dept. and USAID.
Likewise, AidData and its parent organization, College of William and Mary’s have links to USAID, a fact that is open for anyone to see on the Internet.
Rappler, of course, has been “convicted” of violating Philippine law for being a foreign owned company which it eventually skirted when its foreign investors agreed to “donate” its PDR investment to Rappler’s 14 directors.
I find this very profitable for the directors and for the information warfare of the State Department courtesy of the highly “malleable” Philippine justice system, especially when it is the US pushing the levers of justice behind the scene.
Marites Vitug, Rappler editor-at-large was recently ‘honored’ by the US. Rogue State’s top foreign policy rag, ‘Foreign Affairs,’ by publishing her rubbish article. “America and the Philippines Should Call China’s Bluff.”
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 