The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) revealed during a Senate hearing yesterday that a suspected Chinese spy may have accessed around 5,000 mobile subscriber identities using an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catcher.
Last week, suspect Tak Hoi Lap was carrying the surveillance device onboard a rented Mitsubishi Xpander when he was collared by NBI agents.
Sen. Francis Tolentino, who chairs the Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones, initiated the hearing after several Chinese nationals were caught allegedly spying on key Philippine government offices and military installations.
NBI spokesperson Ferdinand Lavin told the Senate panel that the IMSI catcher can gather sensitive data and information like text messages, mobile numbers, and calls from mobile phones.
He said the range of the IMSI is between 500 meters to 3 kilometers.
Tak underwent inquest proceedings at the Department of Justice on Wednesday.
“[It was] confirmed by our technical intelligence that indeed [the IMSI catcher] was in full operation,” Lavin noted.
“Around the time of the interjection, your honor, at around 1:30 on Tuesday last April 29, they informed us, our technical intelligence, that it has already accessed something like 5,000 mobile subscribers’ identities,” he added.
Lavin said the vehicle containing the IMSI traversed the areas of the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, the Villamor Air Base, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the Comelec before being stopped.
The bureau is now seeking a warrant to examine computer data against the IMSI catcher to confirm the reports.
“We are fast-tracking the application and the examination. This takes precedence or priority over the other matters, considering the urgency of the event,” he added.
Lavin said the NBI’s cyber unit will also analyze the data obtained from the IMSI catcher.
During the same hearing, Comelec chairperson George Garcia maintained that no system or election data was compromised due to the incident.
He also warned that political parties proven to have received foreign funding may be disqualified as the poll body ramps up its scrutiny of campaign finance violations ahead of the May midterm elections.
“If it’s an entire party, we can disqualify the entire party, especially since there is proof that the campaign of that party itself was actually foreign-funded. We have no choice. We have to apply and implement the law. That’s what our law says,” Garcia said in Filipino in an ambush interview at the Senate.
The poll body chief urged candidates to thoroughly verify the citizenship status of donors, especially those based abroad.
“When someone donates to you, especially from abroad, first ask if they are still Filipino citizens or dual citizens. If they are dual citizens, they are still Filipinos. Well, after a while, they were Filipinos, and now they are no longer Filipinos; the citizenship is different, it is foreign-funded or foreign donation. That is a ground to disqualify that particular candidate,” he said.
Garcia explained that while Comelec’s jurisdiction ends once a candidate is proclaimed, takes the oath, and assumes office by noon of June 30, action can still be taken if a case is filed before proclamation.