(from left) Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santiago and Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief Romeo Brawner Jr. Photo: NBI

MANILA, Philippines – Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the Philippine government cannot conclude yet whether the series of spying activities recently intercepted by authorities, mostly by Chinese nationals, could be state-sponsored. 

“We cannot yet say that, we cannot conclude that. What we are focusing on is the act itself, ‘yung pag espiya, ‘yung tinatawag natin na ISR, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations. ‘Yun po ‘yung focus natin,” Brawner said Thursday during the presentation of the five more Chinese nationals arrested for doing illegal surveillance in Palawan. 

“We know for a fact, these images, these videos that they are taking are being sent, transmitted somewhere else, pero hindi pa natin po alam kung saan ano ‘yung receiving end. That’s why we cannot conclude that,” he said. 

This fresh set of “spies” were caught collecting imagery intelligence of Philippine naval assets and installations in strategic locations in Palawan leading to the West Philippine Sea. Installed equipment include long-range, high-resolution cameras capable of centimeter-level accuracy and night vision capability as well as Light Detection and Ranging devices (lidar) among many others. 

Monitored at Ulugan Bay in Puerto Princesa, they were caught taking images of the Naval Detachment Oyster Bay in Barangay Bahile, a part of the Philippine Navy’s Naval Forces West (Navforwest) strategically positioned near the South China Sea.

Brawner said this answers why all naval operations to the West Philippine Sea get intercepted quickly by the Chinese Navy and Coast Guard. 

“The information are being sent realtime, hindi po delayed and of course, kung realtime po ‘yun, alam nila kung saan ‘yung mga barko natin, alam nila kung anong oras umalis,” Brawner said. 

“Kaya po pala we were wondering at first a few years back kung bakit tuwing nag-re-resupply mission tayo, pagalis palang ng barko natin ay alam na nila. So we found out that na from the very start ay namomonitor na pala nila,” Brawner said. 

According to Brawner, more CCTV cameras are still installed in the region. 

“Meron kaming nakita, at least apat pa na mga CCTV na naka-kalat po doon sa Ulugan Bay,” he said.  

“We were alarmed by this kaya as early as 2023, 2024 ay talagang nagmamanman na po tayo diyan,” he said. 

Deng, five new ‘spies’ connected, directed by foreign nationals 

Authorities also found concrete evidence linking Deng Yuanqing, the Chinese national first tagged as “spy” for doing surveillance work in Luzon, and the five new ones. 

“Yes,” Brawner said, confirming that the two are connected to each other. 

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santaigo said extra judicial confessions of witnesses confirmed sightings of the two groups in Palawan. 

“Meron tayong mga testigo nakapag-execute na sila ng affidavit, sila-sila lagi ang magmeemeeting dun sa Palawan kaya nalaman namin na talagang sila ay iisang grupo lamang,” Santiago said.  

NBI Cybercrime Division Chief Atty. Jeremy Lotoc said intelligence information revealed that the two groups meet in Manila regularly. 

“Nag-uusap sila once a month,” Lotoc said. 

Investigation further revealed that Deng’s group and the five new ones are being mobilized by an individual giving them directions. 

“Isang grupo, nina Deng then pangalawang grupo itong kila Cai then meron isang individual na nagdidirect sa kanila,” Lotoc said.  

Based on information, the instructions are being given by a foreign national. 

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