NSC doubts Pinoys’ spying ‘confessions’ cited by China
They are ordinary Filipino citizens with no military training who merely went to China at the invitation of the Chinese government to study
An official of the National Security Council (NSC) on Saturday disputed Chinese allegations that the three Filipinos who were arrested in China were spies, saying that they were ordinary citizens who had no military training, and doubted that their “confessions” had been made freely.
In Palawan, the families of the three—two men and a woman—from the province are seeking assistance to be able to visit them in detention in China, according to the provincial government.
The arrests were first publicly disclosed by Chinese state media outlets on April 3. The suspected spies were identified as David Servañez, Albert Endencia and Nathalie Plizardo.
The Inquirer has learned that Servañez was the first to be arrested in October 2024, followed by Endencia in January this year and Plizardo in February.
Invited to study
Jonathan Malaya, the assistant director general and spokesperson for the NSC, said the Philippines was alarmed over Chinese allegations that the three were arrested for allegedly spying for a Philippine intelligence agency.
“They are ordinary Filipino citizens with no military training who merely went to China at the invitation of the Chinese government to study,” Malaya said, adding that they were vetted and screened by the Chinese government itself prior to granting them scholarships.
He also questioned the so-called Philippine Intelligence Agency or Philippine Spy Intelligence Services where the three were accused of passing on sensitive or classified information about Chinese military deployments that they had allegedly gathered. There are no such Philippine government agencies, Malaya said.
“Significantly, the edited video released by Chinese media showing alleged ‘confessions’ by the arrested Filipinos raises more questions than answers,” he said, commenting on a report by the China Central Television, China’s national broadcaster.
Deteriorating ties
“A portion of one of the Filipino’s statement, while expressing regret, also notably portrayed China in a positive light,” he added.
Relations between the Philippines and China have been deteriorating over their unresolved maritime dispute marked by increasingly frequent Chinese incursions into Philippine waters.
Palawan Provincial Information Officer Christian Jay Cojamco said in an interview with the Inquirer that the families of the three Palaweños were asking permission from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to allow them to travel to China.
Once the DFA gives the “go-signal” for the trip, the provincial government will shoulder their travel expenses, he said.
The Chinese media reports still have not disclosed where and when they were arrested and where they are being detained.
The three alleged spies are former scholars under a “sisterhood” agreement between Palawan and Hainan, China’s southernmost province, in 2017.
Plizardo and Servañez belonged to the first batch of scholars at Hainan Normal University in 2018 and Endencia followed in the second batch in 2019.
Cojamco said the scholarship program was on its final stage with the last batch consisting of 16 students sent to China in 2022. They are now in their senior year.
He said some of the scholars were worried and afraid that they might suffer the same fate as the three and indicated that they wanted to return home.
“So, we are already processing their schedule and we are already preparing the documents needed,” Cojamco said, adding that they were waiting for the decision of the other scholars.
Possible ‘retaliation’
He said the DFA also informed the provincial government and the families that a trial was being pursued against the three and that lawyers had been provided for them.
Cojamco said the DFA confirmed the planned trial before the news of their arrests came out from China Daily and other Chinese state media on Wednesday. China Daily is the English language newspaper of the Communist Party of China.
Malaya said that given the scarce information available from China, the arrests could be seen “as a retaliation for the series of legitimate arrests of Chinese agents and accomplices by Philippine law enforcement and counterintelligence agencies in recent months.”
In February, Philippine authorities arrested five suspected Chinese spies who were allegedly monitoring Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Navy activities in Palawan province, including the resupply of troops in the West Philippine Sea.
A month prior, authorities also arrested Chinese national Deng Yuanqing and his Filipino cohorts Ronel Jojo Balundo Besa and Jayson Amado in Makati City.
The National Bureau of Investigation said they were allegedly engaged in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations “to the prejudice of our national defense” and had been charged with espionage and with violation of Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Authorities said Deng’s group conducted espionage activities in one of the sites used by Filipino and American forces under the Philippines-US Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement as well as airports, seaports, power facilities and shopping malls.
‘Baseless speculation’
The Chinese Embassy in Manila denied the allegations against Deng, saying the espionage charges against him were “baseless speculation and accusation.” It urged the Philippine government to “base its judgment on facts, not to make presumption of guilt, stop airing groundless speculations about the so-called ‘Chinese spy case,’ handle relevant cases in accordance with the law, earnestly fulfill the obligations of the bilateral consular treaty and protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens in the Philippines.”
Beijing repeated the same message following the news reports of the arrest of the three Filipinos. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the Philippines had “concocted a series of so-called Chinese spy cases,” referring to the arrest of the Chinese nationals.
Remain vigilant
Malaya said the NSC would continue to coordinate closely with the DFA and the Philippine Embassy in Beijing to ensure that the three detained Filipinos receive legal support and are “accorded due process considering the gravity of the accusations made against them.”
“We urge the Chinese government to respect their rights and afford them every opportunity to clear their names in the same way that the rights of Chinese nationals are respected here in the Philippines,” he said.
Malaya also called on thew Filipino people “to remain vigilant and discerning in the face of these accusations.”
“Let us stand united in our commitment to truth, justice, and adherence to international law, while prioritizing the well-being of our citizens abroad,” he said. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH
