Chinese 'sleeper agents' now in PH, says Lacson

Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Wednesday alleged that Chinese sleeper agents and operatives from China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) are already in the Philippines for spying purposes. 

The senator made the revelation during a hearing of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, as he stressed that concerned government agencies should conduct more hot pursuit operations and be more vigilant in conducting intelligence operations against espionage. 

“The whole network of espionage operations must be dismantled or at least decimated to a large degree because agents come and go. You arrest one, another will come. And I heard, I have it on good information that there are many sleeper agents, even regular members of PLA are here. Imagine, it's widespread,” Lacson said.

Lacson, a former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said that these alleged Chinese spies were already found in certain parts of the country, such as Palawan, Makati, Dumaguete, near Camp Aguinaldo, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Manila, and even Malacañang.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Ferdinand Lavin said that 13 Chinese nationals and one Cambodian were already arrested for suspected espionage. 

“Ang status nila ay nakakulong pa sila,” Lavin said. “As a matter of fact, two of the six operations were born out of the electronic information taken doon sa naunang operation.”

(They are all still arrested… As a matter of fact, two of the six operations were born out of the electronic information taken from the previous operation.) 

Lacson then raised concern that no recent intelligence and law enforcement operations were conducted against alleged spies in the country. 

“This is an unusual crime committed against our national security, unlike other ordinary criminal cases [where] we stop at filing charges and pursuing their conviction in court. Ito [this one], it entails more intelligence or other follow-up operations,” he added. 

To recall, the National Security Council (NSC) had said there were indications that China is interfering with the Philippines' 2025 midterm elections.

Malacañang expressed alarm over this pronouncement by the NSC, saying that the reported interference would be investigated.—LDF, GMA Integrated News