The Philippine government will conduct an investigation on alleged Chinese interference in this year's midterm elections using "troll farm".

On the sidelines of the Maritime Security Symposium 2025 in Manila on Thursday, National Security Council spokesman and Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said that the alleged interference of China in the May 12 poll was revealed by Senator Francis Tolentino earlier Thursday.

Based on the "alarming" revelation of Tolentino, Malaya said there are FIlipinos involved in China's alleged effort to interfere in the May Philippine midterm elections.

"According to Senator Tolentino, the troll farm not only creates pro-China narratives. There's also clear intention to interfere in Philippine politics based on the evidence he shows, so we will work closely with the National Bureau of Investigation for case build up because they have Filipino cohorts," he said.

"Those Philippine nationals should be held to account, if the investigation shows that they are guilty based on the evidence of Senator Tolentino," he added.

Malaya said Tolentino revealed that the Chinese Embassy released a check account to pay the so-called "social media warriors which we all know as troll farm."

"It is clear that Senator Tolentino has evidence to probe his claim. So that is the context, he was saying that there is an indication that the PRC has an influence operation in the Philippines which is possibly related to the election," he said.

In his message to the Daily Manila Shimbun, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said that the Commission was also aware about the alleged attacks against them by the "auto bots and troll farms".

"We were likewise briefed about attacks directed against the Comelec using auto bots and troll farms to control the narratives by conditioning the minds of the people that they cannot trust the Comelec and the results of the elections. This is so dangerous and worrisome especially if indeed the perpetrator is a foreign entity," said Garcia. Robina Asido/DMS