The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday announced the arrest of six Chinese nationals and a Filipino for conducting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations in Grande Island, Subic Bay.
In a press briefing, NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin said the agency remains vigilant of other groups conducting spying activities in the country.
“We are not discounting any possibility that there may be other groups that are doing their own rounds of gathering vital pieces of information and providing it to their counterparts. This is very disturbing and getting very alarming to all of us,” he said.
Lavin added that NBI Director Jaime Santiago, who personally led the arrest, is urging the public to continue reporting and cooperating with authorities on matters affecting peace and national security.
Santiago stressed that the bureau remains steadfast in strengthening efforts to detect, prevent, and respond to espionage activities in order to safeguard national security.
The Chinese nationals were identified as He Peng a.k.a. Nan Ke, Xu Xining, Ye Tianwu a.k.a Qui Feng/Quing Feng, Ye Xiaocan, Diack Ang, and Su Anlong.
Meanwhile, Melvin Aguillon, a Filipino bodyguard, was also arrested for possession of an unregistered firearm.
They were charged for allegedly violating the Espionage Law, Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, the Commission on Election (Comelec) gun ban, as well as Falsification by Private Individuals and Use of Falsified Documents and Using Fictitious Name and Concealing True Name provided under the Revised Penal Code.
Photographs and documents of Philippine and US Naval Assets were found inside the units of the Chinese nationals.
Likewise, electronic gadgets containing surveillance photos and videos were seized together with fake documents (BIR) and identification cards.
Last week, the NBI-Cybercrime Division (NBI-CCD) received a letter from the Military Intelligence Unit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines regarding foreign nationals suspected of conducting ISR operations on critical infrastructures within Region III.
The proximity of Central Luzon to the areas in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) creates a favorable setting for the Chinese Communist Party-United Front Work (CPP-UFW) to carry out said operations aligned with their geopolitical objectives, the NBI noted.
The intelligence report revealed that Chinese nationals were closely monitored for engaging in deemed suspicious activities, involving a collection of sensitive data related to “Critical Infrastructure” or data affecting national defense within the area.
These individuals occupied the island under the guise of recreational fishers and utilized hi-tech drones in the guise of transporting fishing bait to conduct surveillance on naval assets passing through Grande Island.
The strategic location of the island also allows them to monitor naval assets entering and exiting Subic Bay during maritime patrols or joint naval exercises in the WPS.