Foreign spying ‘very disturbing’ - Marcos

Metro Manila, Philippines – The recent apprehension of alleged foreign spies is "very disturbing," President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said.

In an interview on Friday, Jan. 31, Marcos said authorities are gathering more information about the supposed espionage of five alleged Chinese spies arrested in Palawan.

"Dahil ‘yung iba matagal nang nandito, nakapangasawa na ng mga Pilipina. At sleeper talaga, sleeper, tinatawag na sleepers baka naman ay pagka nakausap natin sila, masabi sa atin baka mayroon pa bang mga iba na maaari nating puntahan at pag-explainin (explain) kung ano ‘yung kanilang ginagawa," he said.

[Translation: Because some of them have been here for a long time, and even married Filipino women. They are sleepers, what we call sleepers. Maybe when we talk to them, they can tell us if there are others we can approach and explain what they are doing.]

Marcos said alleged spies in critical military facilities like EDCA sites are particularly concerning.

"That’s why we arrested them, because of course, we are very disturbed by anyone conducting such espionage operations against our military and the services we are trying to provide to the people," he said.

Collaboration

In a separate interview, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said foreign espionage reports are taken seriously.

"Ang role dito ng DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) is to support the ongoing investigation ng ibang agencies natin at saka of course kasama rin kami sa national security issues, and so, siyempre iyong mga espionage operations, siyempre we have to take it very seriously," said Manalo in an interview with state-run PTV.

[Translation: The role of the DFA here is to support the ongoing investigations of our other agencies and, of course, we are also involved in national security issues, so naturally, we have to take these espionage operations very seriously ]

"I know that the Department of Justice, the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are looking into this. Ang masasabi ko lang [All I can say] is that the DFA is ready to support these agencies in whatever way we can para lang ma-defend iyong ating [to defend our] national security," he added.