DOJ: Philippines has yet to criminalize foreign interference

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday said the Philippines has yet to enact a law specifically defining and criminalizing foreign interference, pointing to gaps in existing espionage laws.

During a Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation hearing on several bills concerning espionage, Senator Erwin Tulfo asked security agencies how they define threats to national security.

“We have not yet in our existing laws actually defined and criminalized foreign interference. We already have an established crime which is espionage. It's just a matter of Mr. Chair, of modernizing our definition of espionage,” DOJ Senior State Counsel Fretti Ganchoon said.

“Espionage is an established crime already, but with respect to foreign interference, we have not yet criminalized it. And so, if ever, this is going to be the first time that the Philippines will criminalize foreign interference,” she added.

Ganchoon cited a 2025 incident in which Chinese nationals were charged with espionage after they were arrested with equipment suspected of being used for spying. She added that the matter had not reached the DOJ.

She said the incident highlighted potential gaps in existing laws, particularly in cases involving the possession of suspected espionage equipment without the actual acquisition of classified information.

“Because indeed there are gaps in our laws… Perhaps it would be difficult if there's no actual obtention or getting of classified information in such a case and it's just mere possession of this equipment, Mr. Chair,” Ganchoon said.

Meanwhile, former National Security Council assistant director general Jonathan Malaya also said existing espionage laws were inadequate to cover certain acts involving sensitive government information.

“So, if an act of espionage is not committed against military installations—for example, [if it involves] secrets of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the President, or other civilian government agencies—that would not be covered by Commonwealth Act No. 616 or Article 117 of the Revised Penal Code,” Malaya said.

Enacted in 1941, when the Philippines was under US rule, Commonwealth Act No. 616 penalizes espionage and certain disloyal acts affecting the Philippines and the United States. —VBL, GMA News