Tolentino: Chinese meddling in PH polls part of long-running plot
Philippine News Agency
By Wilnard Bacelonia
April 30, 2025, 3:08 pm
MANILA -- Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino on Wednesday claimed that China's interference in the upcoming Philippine midterm elections is part of a sustained effort to push its agenda through proxy candidates.
In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, Tolentino said the arrest of a Chinese national near the Commission on Elections main office in Manila on Tuesday backs findings during a Senate inquiry he chaired, wherein it showed signs of Beijing's possible espionage activities.
The arrested Chinese national had an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) device, or a telephone eavesdropping equipment being used to intercept mobile phone traffic and for tracking location of mobile phone users.
Tolentino said a similar arrest was made in January, noting that financial documents linked to a Chinese-backed group, InfinitUs, were gathered from the suspects.
"This isn't an isolated case -- they've been doing this for years," he said, accusing Beijing of backing candidates who might repeal pro-sovereignty laws and undermine PH-US defense ties," the lawmaker said.
Tolentino drew parallels with a 194-page Canadian parliamentary report on Chinese election interference and called for tougher laws, including his proposed Counter Foreign Espionage Act.
He also warned of possible diplomatic fallout, including the expulsion of Chinese diplomats, stressing: "What's at stake is our dignity as a nation." (PNA)
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