The National Security Council (NSC) said that the surveillance activities being conducted by recently arrested alleged Chinese spies pose serious concerns in the security of the country, and these should be addressed as soon as possible.

This, as National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo Año commended Friday, Jan. 31, the arrest of five more Chinese nationals supposedly engaged in espionage and intelligence gathering.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) collared Cai Shaohuang, 52; Wang Yong Yi, 52; Wu Jun Ren, 62; Wu Chengting, 38; and Chen Haitao, 36; during a series of operations in Palawan, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), and Dumaguete City from Jan. 24 to 25.

“These foreign nationals, who were placed under surveillance following the earlier arrest of another Chinese national and his local accomplices, were found to be conducting aerial reconnaissance and collecting imagery intelligence on Philippine naval assets,” Año said.

“Their activities near Ulugan Bay and Naval Detachment Oyster Bay in Palawan, as well as their surveillance of Coast Guard stations and naval docks, are serious concerns that warrant a firm and coordinated response,” he added.

According to the NBI and AFP, the suspects claimed to be members of civic groups but were actually collecting data on Philippine Navy (PN) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ships and activities in Palawan, including the resupply missions of the troops in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Año said the swift and coordinated efforts of intelligence and law enforcement agencies in tracking, apprehending, and investigating the suspects demonstrated the country’s commitment to prevent any activity that could compromise national security.

“This operation also underscores the need for continued vigilance and proactive counterintelligence measures to detect and disrupt any attempts at espionage within our borders,” he noted.

Authorities seized from the suspects solar-powered video cameras which were allegedly used by the suspects to record the Navy and Coast Guard’s activities. In those video cameras, there were photographs of Navy detachments such as the Naval Detachment Oyster Bay in Puerto Princesa, PN ship BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS 16), maps of Subic Bay, and the Naval Operating Base Subic.

Footages showing PCG vessels BRP Teresa Magbanua, BRP Gabriela Silang, and coast guard monitoring stations were also retrieved from the recovered devices.

The NBI said the suspects had ties with another Chinese national, Deng Yuanqing, 39, who was earlier arrested by the authorities along with two Filipino cohorts in Makati City last Jan. 17 due to suspected espionage.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila had urged the government to be careful in tagging Chinese nationals as spies and refrain from making "baseless" allegations.