Report: Binay, Mar ex-targets of US spying

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE: 5:36 p.m.) — The United States National Security Agency (NSA) appears to have included two of the Philippines' top leaders in its list of targets using an underwater cable surveillance program in 2013.

French newspaper Le Monde decrypted a page from an internal file unveiled by NSA whistleblower and American fugitive Edward Snowden claiming that Vice President Jejomar Binay and Interior Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas were victims of communication interception for one month through underwater cables.

Le Monde's May 9 report said that an NSA program called Upstream used submarine cables to collect and carry essential data from conversations of Binay and Roxas.

Upstream lines also carried surveillance information from conversations in a resort in the Caribbean, an institute of physics in Italy, emails of Saudi Telecom staff, a computer company in Pakistan and a telecom company's subsidiary in Libya.

What NSA's intention for monitoring Binay and Roxas is not clear, while Le Monde noted that the Filipino officials are not known for having views against the US but are influential political figures in the country.

Binay has expressed his plan to run for president in 2016, while Roxas is acknowledged to be the next standard bearer for the ruling Liberal Party and will likely vie for the top post in Malacañang.

Sought for comment, Roxas said in a message to Philstar.com that he has not been aware of the surveillance program but he is not worried it would have serious repercussions on ties between long-time allies, the US and the Philippines.

"There's not much I can do about it so I don't worry about it," he said. "It is not a neighborly act but I don't think it will strain relations."

The Philippines is an important regional ally of the US bound by a 1951 defense treaty. American President Barack Obama also concluded his state visit in the Philippines earlier this month as part of his agenda of strategic rebalancing to Asia.

Other leaked documents also claim that the NSA has been monitoring text messages of Filipinos through MYSTIC program being run by an arm of Australian intelligence from local telecommunications companies.

MYSTIC program appears to be collecting metadata for commercial and signal intelligence purposes.

Read: Snowden leak bares US spying on Philippines' text messages

Previous reports based on Snowden's leaked documents showed that the US spied on phone conversations of at least 35 world leaders including those of French president François Hollande and German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel accused American Barack Obama of "spying" on its "friends" instead of promoting trust among its allies and partners. She also demanded that her NSA file be pulled out.

The White House, however, issued a statement saying that the "US is not monitoring and will not monitor" Merkel's communications.