LAST week, Sen. Imee Marcos, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, created a stir on TikTok and Facebook, claiming that she knew of a Chinese plan to target 25 sites in the country with hypersonic missiles. She identified Batanes, Subic and Ilocos (where she's from) as initial targets, although she didn't provide evidence to support her claim to have seen the 'reports about China's plans.' The prudent move would have been to privately submit the information to her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., National Security Adviser Ed Año, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. and AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner for verification and closed-door discussion.

She was quoted in mainstream media as saying: 'I saw reports about China's plans to use hypersonic missiles. The 25 targets are already set... Based on what we've read, there are BrahMos missiles in Batanes and Subic, so those two will be prioritized along with Ilocos because of the live fire exercises during Balikatan. It's really scary, 25. That's no joke.'