Teodoro says Marcos ordered probe into 'nefarious' foreign activities in PH

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has ordered an investigation into “nefarious” foreign activities in the Philippines, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Saturday.

“President Marcos has instructed our intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies to conduct evidence-based operations against these forms of nefarious activities,” Teodoro said at the Saturday News Forum.

Teodoro made the statement as he discussed various illegal activities allegedly involving Chinese nationals, citing the case of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and the proliferation of substandard steel plants.

Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, was elected mayor of Bamban in 2022 but was later found to have used fraudulent birth documents. She has also faced allegations of links to Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and foreign interests.

Teodoro also cited the case of a mayor in the United States who was reportedly discovered to be an agent for China.

He said there were signs linking Guo to Chinese businessman Tony Yang, the brother of former presidential adviser Michael Yang.

“With the discovery of Alice Guo as a fake Filipino, and Tony Yang as an admitted fake Filipino... who, by the way, there is some information to show that they are, have some relationship with each other and internationally, as part of an international cabal,” Teodoro said.

Teodoro also alleged that Tony Yang had collaborators in Cambodia who were part of the same gang as individuals behind a large-scale money laundering scheme in Singapore.

POGOs and steel plants

The massive POGO hub established in Bamban, Tarlac, was built within two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, with almost all of its materials and workers imported from abroad, Teodoro said.

“Kung nakapasok na ganun kabilis, ganun kadaming materyales, ganun kadaming tao, pandemic, ano pa kaya yung droga? Ano pa kaya yung ibang mga bagay? Yun ang dapat examine natin, hindi lang si Alice Guo, pero yung buong support system niya. Mangyayari na yan sa isang pribadong indibidwal lamang na sarado ang buong mundo noon? Tingin ko hindi,” Teodoro said.

(If they were able to enter that fast, with that many materials, that many people, during the pandemic, what about drugs? What about other things? That is what we must examine, not just Alice Guo, but her entire support system. Can that be done by one private individual while the world was closed? I think not.)

“At ano pinaggagawa doon? Puro krimen ang nangyari,” he added.

(And what did they do there? A lot of crime happened.)

Apart from Guo and POGOs, Teodoro said the proliferation of substandard steel plants also posed a problem because of their potential impact on the economy.

He cited the Tony Yang-linked Sanjia Steel Corp. in Misamis Oriental as an example of what he described as China’s growing economic influence in the Philippines.

Authorities raided the Sanjia facility in May, resulting in the arrest of 69 Chinese nationals. The government has said the workers were undocumented and that the operation uncovered potentially hazardous materials.

“We have seen the proliferation of substandard steel plants, which serves as a barrier of entry to the market by underpricing the commodity and selling unsafe foundational structures for construction and other matters, and contaminated too by the way,” Teodoro said.

“What does this do? You need a steel industry, you need a bona fide steel industry to manufacture, especially for your defense. Can you imagine using substandard steel for vessels which are... contaminated? You can’t do that,” he added.

“The objective here, really, obviously, is to create a culture of dependence on China, which continues to feed the consumer-consumption-led economy of the Philippines by flooding us with cheap retail goods while preventing us from developing our core industries which we need for resilience,” Teodoro said.

Philippines-China ties

Philippines-China diplomatic relations have become more strained during the Marcos administration amid renewed tensions over the West Philippine Sea.

Teodoro, however, said previous administrations had already attempted to improve ties with China but that Beijing continued to exert pressure on Philippine interests.

He cited Beijing’s 1995 claim that it was building a shelter for Chinese fishermen on Mischief Reef as an example.

But now, it is a military base, Teodoro said.

Teodoro also warned that China was attempting to create a “Sinocentric” world.

While he said he did not want to foster a culture of sinophobia in the Philippines, the defense chief argued that any such sentiment would be a consequence of the actions of the Chinese Communist Party. — VBL, GMA News