Filipino spying for China says sensitive info obtained from PCG official

One of the Filipinos exposed as spies for an alleged Chinese spy network warned that other people in the private and public sector may have also been recruited to provide information to the Chinese Government.

GMA Integrated News was allowed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to interview Danny, not his real name, in a secure military facility in Metro Manila. Danny is just one of three Filipinos being held by the AFP after being unmasked by the government's Insider Threat Program, designed to detect leak of critical intelligence information.

Danny introduced himself as a businessman who was first engaged to provide publicly available information to people who first contacted him through a messaging application, and who introduced themselves as US-based journalists.

"Nagsimula nakontak nila ako by internet kasi nagpost ako sa job as part-time..Nagkontak sila sa akin nauna sila by WhatsApp dun kami nagsimula mag-usap...May pinapagawa silang ganito..Nagtatanong tanong ano mga kagamitan ng PCG at Navy which is ano naman sa internet available so hindi naman mahirap sa akin at kumikita rin ako," he said.

(They started contacting me through the internet because of a post for a part-time job. They contacted me first through WhatsApp and that's where we started talking... They asked me to do something like this. They asked me what equipment the PCG and Navy have, which is available on the internet, so it's not difficult for me and I'm also earning money.)

Interest from the foreign contacts increased when Danny misrepresented himself as a member of the Philippine Coast Guard. 

He said this led to demands for more sensitive information from a new handler he calls Peter.

"Interesado sila sa RORE (rotation and resupply) visit ng ibang bansa sa Palawan lalo na yung ASEAN...Hindi ko alam talaga yun pero dahil malaki nga ang pera talaga nagsimula na akong magkalkal ng mas malalim na impormasyon," Danny said.

(They are interested in the RORE (rotation and resupply) visit of other countries to Palawan, especially ASEAN...I don't really know about that, but since the money is really big, I started looking for more information.)

To meet the demand for critical information on the RORE missions to the West Philippine Sea, Danny approached an old friend who was a PCG official.

Danny was able to transmit RORE schedules and information to his foreign handler by using a phone that his handler supplied him, which had an encrypted communication app that looked like a harmless game.

He quickly cleared his friend of any involvement, saying that all of the information he collected was done secretly and without the PCG official's knowledge.

"Dahil sa tiwala niya sa akin Sir nakuha ko yung account niya then sa cellphone may dual messenger nilog-in ko account niya dun. Bale ang Android kasi may dual messenger so pwede ka mag-log in ng dalawang account...Nakuha ko cellphone niya para lumabas ang authentication hindi niya makita...Dinedelete ko ang notification para hindi niya makita...Hindi niya napansin," he said.

(Because of his trust in me, Sir, I got his account, then on his cellphone there is a dual messenger, I logged in to his account. Android has a dual messenger so you can log in to two accounts... I got his cellphone so the authentication came out, he couldn't see it... I deleted the notification so he couldn't see it... He didn't notice.)

Danny said his foreign handler Peter was also set to meet with other government officials when he came to the country sometime in December 2024.

He said he was surprised that Peter was Asian-looking, but spoke very good English.

"Nung bago kami mag meet ni Peter sinabi niya na it's okay na makipagmeet ako dahil hindi lang ako mga high rank sa gobyerno na imeet niya...para mag-usap...So may iba siyang ka-meeting," he said.

(Before Peter and I met, he said it was okay for me to meet because I wasn't the only high-ranking person in the government he would meet...to talk...So he met with other people.)
 
The AFP refused to disclose ongoing efforts to weed out similarly compromised individuals or employee but said there are other efforts to uncover who may be a part of a larger spy network. — VBL, GMA Integrated News