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1 Chinese, 2 Filipinos nabbed over alleged espionage activities


1 Chinese, 2 Filipinos nabbed over alleged espionage activities

Authorities arrested a Chinese national and two Filipinos for allegedly conducting surveillance activities in the Philippines, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Monday.

NBI Cybercrime Division chief Jeremy Lotoc said authorities found that the group frequently visited military camps, bases, power plants, offices of local government units, police camps, seaports, airports, and shopping malls.

He said the group also visited Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites.

“And then nag-standby sila ng certain period of time. Basically, nag co-collate sila ng data. And then they have this remote application in their... equipment, which in real time, tina-transmit nila outside,” Lotoc said at a press conference.

(Then they will standby for a certain period of time. Basically, they are collating data. And then they have this remote application in their equipment which, in real time, transmits data outside.)

“Meron hong user ‘yung application na ‘yun, remotely, na nasa labas ng ating bansa. Kino-collate ‘yung mga data na nakukuha nitong subject group natin,” he added.

(That application has a user who is outside the country. They are collecting the data that the subject group gathered.)

Lotoc said the group had equipment such as a sensor that is capable of creating a 3D image of the target structure as well as a global navigation satellite systems real-time kinematic.

The division chief said the equipment was capable of producing coordinates.

“In other words— well, I don't want to alarm, to sound as an alarmist pero pwede ho kasi itong gamitin in terms of drone control. Malalaman po nila ‘yung ating topography, makikita ho nila ‘yung structure natin, ‘yung terrain natin,” he said.

‘Military purposes’

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said these could be used for military purposes.

“It’s very possible that the coordinates and the topography could be used for military purposes, no? Military targeting purposes,” Brawner said.

According to Lotoc, the group was eyeing to head to the Visayas and Mindanao after roaming around Luzon.

“In fact, ang plano ho nila pagkatapos nila maikot ‘yung buong Luzon, ang next target ho nila ay yung buong Visayas at Mindanao naman. So hindi na po namin hinintay na mag pro-proceed sila sa visayas,” he said.

(Their next target is to head to Visayas and Mindanao after Luzon. So we no longer waited for them to proceed to Visayas.)

Five years

Lotoc said the arrested Chinese national is a “specialist in terms of control engineering and the automation and engineering discipline.”

Lotoc said the NBI has a copy of the foreigner’s passport and is now coordinating with the Bureau of Immigration.

“I think five years na siyang nandito or even more. And we believe that, well, hinagap namin siya as a sleeper kasi through our monitoring, ‘yung galawan niya talagang nasa normal nang kanya niyang mag blend in sa iba’t ibang grupo. Hindi ho siya pansinin,” he said.

(I think he has been staying here for five years. And we believe that, well, we thought of him as a sleeper because through our monitoring, his behavior was really normal and he blended in well with other groups. He went unnoticed.)

Meanwhile, his two Filipino cohorts are his driver and fellow passenger.

Lotoc said that after they were arrested, they executed an extrajudicial confession.

“Saying that inutusan sila nito na umikot sa ganitong lugar and then i-process ‘yung ganitong klaseng equipment through the Chinese national subject. Siya ho ‘yung nag uutos kung anong gagawin nila at saan sila pupunta,” he said.

(They were saying that they were ordered to go to this place, to process this kind of equipment. The Chinese national was the one ordering them to go somewhere.)

Similar setup

Meanwhile, Brawner said they are monitoring all espionage activities.

He said the AFP also previously apprehended a Chinese individual who was driving a vehicle with a similar setup and equipment.

“What we saw on the equipment were pictures of camps. Picture ng Fort Bonifacio, picture ng Camp Aguinaldo, picture ng Camp Crame and so on. So tinitignan po nami lahat ng koneksyon nitong mga ito,” he said.

(What we saw on the equipment were pictures of camps. Pictures of Fort Bonifacio, picture of Camp Aguinaldo, picture of Camp Crame, and so on. So we’re looking into the connection of all of these.)

“From the Ramford na nakuha natin ngayon, the Toyota Innova that we apprehended, we captured last year, at iba din po, kasama po ‘yung ibang equipment na narecover natin,“ he added.

(From the Ramford that we recently retrieved and the Toyota Innova that we apprehended last year to the other equipment that we recovered.)

Brawner said they will also implement stricter security measures following the incident. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News

Tags: espionage, DOJ, nbi, afp