Comelec: No disturbance in systems after arrest of Chinese with 'spy' equipment

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Wednesday that no disturbance was monitored in its systems after a Chinese national with supposed spy equipment was arrested near the poll body’s main office in Manila.

“Gusto kong i-guarantee sa sambayanan, wala po kaming election data na nandoon sa main office. Sorry na lang sa kanila. Wala po doon ang mga election data natin,”  Comelec chairperson George Garcia said in an ambush interview.

(I want to guarantee to the public, we don’t have any election data in the main office. Sorry to the possible spies. Our election data is not there.)

“Tinignan natin yung mga system namin, yung mga list of voters natin na meron sa Comelec. Wala po tayong nakitang any disturbance  doon po,” he added.

(We checked our systems, our lists of voters that are in the Comelec. We did not see any disturbance there.)

Authorities earlier arrested a Chinese man with supposed "spying" equipment near the Comelec building in Intramuros.

A surveillance video of the National Bureau of Investigation-National Capital Region (NBI-NCR) showed two Chinese men arranging the equipment they believed to be used for spying over the weekend.

Malacañang has expressed alarm following the arrest of a Chinese national.

''It is quite alarming,'' Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro said at a briefing Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Garcia said that there were millions of attempts to hack the Comelec’s online precinct finder, which was opened to the public on April 23 for the May 2025 midterm elections.

In the 2022 elections, Garcia said there were around 35 million attempts to hack the online precinct finder but did not succeed.

Election Day is on May 12, but overseas voters may cast their votes from April 13 to May 12, while local absentee voters may cast their votes from April 28 to 30. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News

For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.

For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.