Former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Command (WesCom) Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos on Wednesday admitted he had talked to a Chinese military attaché, but denied entering into secret deals that would compromise national interests.
Testifying during the first hearing of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Carlos confirmed he had a phone conversation with a certain “Colonel Li,” a Chinese embassy senior official. The two met on several diplomatic occasions and during AFP special events.
Chinese embassy officials claimed the phone conversation lasted for about 12 minutes, which Carlos clarified, saying they talked only for three to five minutes. He also denied discussing a “new model” as claimed by Li, but they explored ways to reduce the tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“I did not initiate the call. We talked about how to reduce the tension in the West Philippine Sea, particularly during our rotation and resupply (RoRe) mission in Ayungin Shoal,” Carlos said.
The former AFP WesCom chief explained that this conversation stemmed from his concerns following the December 2023 water cannon attacks of China against Philippine vessels conducting RoRe missions in the area.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada and Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, however, refused to delve into the nature of their conversation yet, and focused rather on the supposed wiretapping by Chinese embassy officials.
“Let us be united against this false narrative,” urged Carlos, adding “we are on the same team.”
Further, Carlos said he did not give his consent to record the phone conversation.
Department of Justice (DOJ) Chief of State Counsel Dennis Arvin Chan indicated they are still deliberating whether a case of wiretapping can be established against the concerned Chinese Embassy officials since it is the first time they heard of Carlos’ testimony.
“Because we are in the middle of the fight for the WPS, anything that comes from them (China), we treat them very carefully… We did not accept right away that the transcript was authentic… that there was wiretapping,” Chan said.
Both the DOJ and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) raised doubts on the authenticity of the transcripts and audio recordings of the alleged conversation between the Manila-based Chinese diplomats and AFP officials.
“But (since) we have a testimony now that we can use that indeed there was a call and it was recorded, so it could be considered as a violation of the wiretapping law,” Chan noted, referring to new information based on Carlos’s testimony.