No Huawei in AFP’s communication system — Detoyato

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Thursday said that its official communication platforms are free from any Huawei component, amid allegations that the Chinese telecommunications equipment firm could be a spy of the Chinese government.

"We are not using Huawei products sa communication platform and there is periodic audit of our communication systems being done by the Communications, Electronics and [Information] Systems Service of the AFP to make sure na none of our communications facilities or platforms are compromised," AFP Public Affairs chief Colonel Noel Detoyato said.

"Only individual soldiers are using Huawei phones for their personal communication," he added.

Further, Detoyato said the AFP is using an intranet and that he is confident that the military's communication channels are secured.

US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim on Thursday said that the US' concerns with Huawei Technologies are "very serious."

China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on the other hand, denounced the supposed "economic bullying" of the US against the telecom giant. — RSJ, GMA News