SEN. Panfilo Lacson warned that Chinese sleeper agents and even operatives from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are already embedded in the Philippines to engage in espionage.

The senator aired his concern on Wednesday during a Senate public hearing which tackled anti-espionage bills, including Lacson’s Senate Bill 33 on offenses against national security.

The Senate discussed measures seeking to update the decades-old Commonwealth Act 616 that was enacted during World War II.

Lacson urged the concerned government agencies to conduct continuous follow-up operations against those arrested in earlier anti-espionage operations.

“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 takes his/her place,” he said.

“And I have it on good information that there are sleeper agents and even regular members of the PLA who are here. They are widespread,” Lacson said in Filipino and English.

A sleeper agent is a spy who is sent to a target country not to carry out an immediate mission but to “go to sleep” and live a seemingly normal life for an extended period, sometimes for years or even decades. With assets in place, sleeper agents can be “activated” at a later date to spy or engage in sabotage.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros raised alarm over the rising cases of espionage activities across the country.

Chinese sleeper agents' and PLA operatives a threat, Lacson warns

She cited the arrest of Chinese near Malacañang, the US Embassy, Camp Aguinaldo, Camp Crame and Villamor Air Base. They were found possessing sophisticated gadgets used for topographic mapping of the country’s military bases and terrain.

She also noted the seizure of drones, solar-powered closed-circuit television (CCTV) equipment, and deploy-and-forget underwater drones from Chinese as well as the discovery of Chinese who infiltrated the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary in recent years.

“There is no denying that spies, enemies of the state and hostile elements are here and have embedded themselves in our society,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada.

“Hence, we need to upgrade and fortify our capacity to secure our land and our people, beginning with an enhanced legal framework and an updated policy,” said Estrada, chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security.

“Time is of the essence. Their espionage activities are continuing and what we have right now is an outdated law in Commonwealth Act 616,” Lacson said.

Chinese sleeper agents' and PLA operatives a threat, Lacson warns

He cited reports on the arrest of Chinese for suspected espionage in several areas of the country, including Palawan, Makati, Dumaguete, and even near Camp Aguinaldo, the Commission on Elections office in Manila and Malacañang.

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) acting Regional Director Ferdinand Lavin said NBI agents had arrested in at least six operations 19 foreigners engaged in suspected espionage.

Of the 19, 13 were Chinese, five were Filipinos and one was Cambodian. Lavin said the Filipinos were acting as guides, drivers or aides.

Lacson emphasized the need for continuous hot pursuit operations against other suspects, including those stemming from tactical interrogation of those captured.

“This is where I am more interested because this does not end with arrest. This is an unusual crime against our national security unlike ordinary criminal cases where we stop at filing charges and [pursue] their conviction in court. In espionage, it entails more intelligence and follow-up operations,” he said in Filipino.

“If we rest on our laurels, we become complacent, but that is not supposed to be the case. The more we should pursue and be more vigilant in conducting intelligence and law enforcement operations,” he added.

Lacson also pressed the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze the assets of those involved in espionage activities, similar to what they did in the case of former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, who turned out to be Chinese.

Spyware

Meanwhile, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri urged the government to check all foreign-donated equipment for possible “spyware,” warning that these may be used against the country if left unchecked.

The senator made the appeal on Wednesday during the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security public hearing on several proposed measures against espionage., This news data comes from:http://grg.xs888999.com

Zubiri said that other countries know the Philippines’ defenses are weak, as visiting foreign officials use only “burner phones when they come here.”

“They’ve always commented that the Philippines has a very low ranking when it comes to anti-cybercrime and anti-espionage activities,” he said.

“They don’t even use their phones. It’s all burner phones. They’re not allowed to even bring their own phones because it might be used for espionage,” Zubiri said.

The Senate deputy minority leader said that donated hardware like computers and CCTV cameras must be closely monitored.

“Maybe we can add it [to] the bill,” Zubiri said.

He said the Department of Information and Communications Technology officials should be present in future inquiries on the matter.

Zubiri also said that the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) “should take the lead in flagging questionable donations.”

He said the senators are willing to support the budgets of intelligence agencies only if they get clear briefings on how funds are being spent to strengthen anti-spy and anti-cybercrime efforts.

“We want to support you. But we want to support you the right way. And I hope that in the next meeting, we can have a more comprehensive discussion,” Zubiri added.

He reminded agencies that procurement rules have been amended so that they are no longer forced to buy the cheapest equipment.

He said the Philippine Coast Guard, Department of National Defense, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, NICA and other agencies involved in law enforcement “can now do negotiated bidding to avoid certain brands.”