Philippine Senator Sherwin Gatchalian warned yesterday that the Philippines should prepare for the worst as conflicts with China in the South China Sea escalate, predicting more aggressive espionage activities by Chinese spies.
Gatchalian stated that it is no longer surprising that Chinese undercover agents are being arrested by authorities as the Philippines intensifies its claims to sovereignty in the South China Sea and resists bullying and hostile actions by Chinese coast guard vessels in its territorial waters.
He echoed the concerns of President Marcos, who expressed his unease about reports of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arresting six suspected Chinese undercover agents.
Deng Yuanqing and his two Filipino accomplices were arrested in Makati for possessing spy equipment used for mapping and transmitting data about military camps and infrastructure.
A few days later, Deng's accomplices, Cai Shaohuang, Wang Yongyi, Wu Qinren, Wu Chengting, and Cheng Haitao were arrested for collecting information on the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) rotations and resupply missions in Palawan, where they set up surveillance cameras and posed as tourists to map naval and coast guard stations.
"This is shocking. Chinese spies have been operating like this in our country for some time, equipped with sophisticated devices. This is something we should have anticipated. Let's be prepared," said Gatchalian.
He praised the NBI's successful operations against the alleged spies, but added that Philippine law enforcement should expand their intelligence network.
"I commend the NBI for capturing these active spies, but we should further expand our intelligence capabilities. I truly believe there are more spies," the senator said.
The Senate discovered extensive Chinese espionage, infiltration, and propaganda activities during its investigation into the now-banned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) centers, which served as fronts for criminal organizations, particularly human trafficking.
At the POGO hearings, Francisco Acedillo, the deputy director of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), stated that the Chinese spy network had long been entrenched in the Philippines' economic and political landscape.
The most notable official accused of being a spy was the dismissed mayor Alice Guo, who was linked to the raided Tarlac Bamban POGO center and accused by gambling tycoon and self-proclaimed agent She Zhiqiang of being a communist spy.
Acedillo described Guo as an "influential agent" who used her position to benefit China.
Gatchalian, who was actively involved in the Senate's investigation into Philippine online gambling companies, stated that Chinese spies pretended to work for these companies to evade detection. During the previous administration, the number of online gambling companies surged.
"Now that online gambling companies are banned, the entry of spies will also be hindered, making it harder for foreign agents to enter the Philippines and threaten our national security," Gatchalian said.
Joel Anthony Vidal, the director of the Bureau of Immigration, stated that the arrested Chinese spies had "normal immigration status" in the Philippines, which "further deepens the suspicion that they have already integrated into society."
While he did not specifically mention that these "foreigners" were Chinese, Vidal stated that they were among those recently arrested by the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Vidal mentioned that the Bureau of Immigration would "work closely with the National Bureau of Investigation to determine if anyone assisted the suspects in engaging in so-called illegal activities."
"If we confirm that individuals—whether Filipino or foreigner—harbored or assisted these so-called spies, we will prosecute them for harboring illegal foreigners under Section 46 of the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940," he said.
