President Marcos ‘very disturbed’ by China ‘sleeper agents’

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos is “very disturbed” about the activities of suspected Chinese spies in the country as he assured the public that authorities are expanding the search for their cohorts and more “sleeper agents.”

Marcos said the government has not made any formal communication with Beijing regarding the arrests last week of alleged Chinese agents and their Filipino accomplices in separate operations in Makati, Pasay City, Manila and Dumaguete City.

“That’s why we arrested them, because of course we are very disturbed by anyone conducting such espionage operations against our military,” Marcos told reporters yesterday after attending graduation ceremonies of the Development Academy of the Philippines at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

He said the arrested suspects can be made to reveal more names during interrogation.

“The investigative services are still developing more information to see exactly what these five have been – what operations they have been doing while they are here in the Philippines,” Marcos said, referring to the five suspects arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in separate operations from Jan. 24 to 25.

The five were alleged to have been using sophisticated equipment in a resort they had leased in Palawan to monitor the movements of Philippine Coast Guard and Navy vessels.

‘Tip of the iceberg’

The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it “might only be uncovering the tip of an iceberg” with the arrest of the suspected spies.

“At this point, the AFP is looking at a bigger picture of all these incidents,” AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said yesterday.

But AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said they would rather not jump to conclusions that it was Beijing which sent the spies.

“As of now and based on evidences gathered by the collaboration of AFP and NBI, we cannot yet ascertain if said ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) activities conducted by these apprehended individuals are state-sponsored,” Trinidad stressed. — Michael Punongbayan, Mark Ernest Villeza