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Case vs. Chinese espionage suspect strong - NSC exec

Philippine News Agency

By Priam Nepomuceno
January 29, 2025, 2:57 pm

MANILA -- The government's case against the Chinese national nabbed for alleged espionage along with two Filipino accomplices is strong, a ranking National Security Council (NSC) official said Wednesday.

"On the part of the NSC, I think, what we would like to say is that we have a solid case. We have a solid case against the Chinese agent or spy that we arrested. Of course, we cannot preempt the release of the information to the public, the evidence that we have collected over time," NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said during the "Utak Forum" held at the New Dapo Restaurant and hosted by columnist Richard Heydarian in Quezon City.

This is in response to the Chinese Embassy's claims that the accusations against the suspect Deng Yuanqing are baseless and that the Philippines should stop hyping the issue.

The NSC official emphasized that an extensive case build-up was done against the suspect.

"Surveillance was done on this individual. So nakita natin yun galaw niya, nakita natin na pinuntahan niya ang mga lugar na kahina-hinala (we saw his move, we saw him going to these places suspiciously) and places of significant military importance to us, significant strategic locations which pinuntahan nya, nag surveillance (siya) dun (which he went and conducted surveillance)," he added.

Malaya also stressed that the suspect was caught "red handed" or "in flagrante delicto" in legal parlance.

"Hawak-hawak niya yun mga surveillance equipment, kahina-hinala yung mga galaw nya (he was holding the surveillance equipment and his actions were suspicious)," he added.

Further, the NSC official said the Chinese suspect will have his day in court.

"We filed the necessary cases for violation of the Espionage Act and the Cybercrime Law and he will have his opportunity, but in so far as the government is concerned, we have a very solid case and we have all the necessary evidence to prove his culpability," he added.

More arrests to follow

When asked about the activities of other individuals who might be doing intelligence operations in the Philippines, Malaya said there will be more arrests and announcements in the coming days.

"I don't want to preempt the announcement of the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and of course, other relevant law enforcement agencies, but there will be more arrests, we'll probably have announcements in the next few days about other individuals which we also caught conducting intelligence operations in the Philippines," he added.

He also thanked those Filipino citizens whose reports made these operations possible.

"So again our appeal to the public, if you see any suspicious activity please report that immediately to the nearest law enforcement agency, the Philippine National Police, even the Armed Forces, they have their intelligence service which can help us, and of course the NBI," Malaya said.

With these ongoing efforts, the NSC official said they are now able to disrupt and to stop all of these illegal activities in the country.

Malaya likewise said the arrest of alleged Chinese spies masquerading as tourists in Palawan is part of these operations.

"Siguro what I can say right now is that there will be more arrests and this includes what happened there in Palawan because we have ramped up our counterintelligence efforts and because of that we're slowly unravelling the conspiracy, this operation that's being done by foreign actors to conduct espionage in the Philippines," he added. (PNA)