Lacson wants life in prison for espionage

MANILA, Philippines —  Espionage should be met with life imprisonment, former senator Panfilo Lacson said Tuesday.

In an interview with “Storycon” on One News, Lacson said Commonwealth Act 616 or the espionage law of 1941 is “obsolete” and should be amended by Congress.

Sentencing spies to no more than six years in prison is “too light” a penalty, Lacson noted.

The Revised Penal Code prescribes a penalty of up to six years in prison for espionage. Commonwealth Act 616 imposes imprisonment of up to 30 years.

“That is the only penalty that we can impose should the Chinese arrested be found guilty and convicted,” Lacson said, referring to detained suspected Chinese spy Yuanqing Deng.

Technicalities during the trial might include the modern equipment that Deng had used, as it is not covered by Commonwealth Act 616, Lacson noted.

Following Deng’s arrest, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has increased security measures at military camps, covering not only physical and organizational changes and protocols, but also the cyber domain.

Intel gathering

Deng’s gathering of technical intelligence is alarming, Lacson said.

Deng, who has lived in the Philippines for 10 years, could be a spy known to the intelligence community as “recruited in place,” he noted.

Deng is married to a Filipino.

Evidence presented by the National Bureau of Investigation indicate that Deng is involved in technical intelligence gathering.

Deng has been suspected of mapping and surveying military installations, ports, malls, communication and energy grids, major seaports and airports and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement sites.

Deng and his two Filipino accomplices were arrested on Jan. 17 in Makati for alleged espionage.

“I remember several years ago, we were told at the Senate that there are PLA (People’s Liberation Army) operatives in place as sleeper agents,” Lacson recalled.

If Deng is not established as a PLA operative, Lacson said he could be a spy recruited in place, “either an infiltrator or a planter.”

Claims that Deng is a legitimate surveyor of a company recognized by the US and Taiwan could just be a cover to hide his identity as a spy, Lacson noted.

“Agents have a legitimate cover. An agent, recruited or recruited in place, cannot be idle and have no legitimate cover because he will be easily burned,” he said.

Third-country operations are normal in the intelligence community, Lacson said.