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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Palace to probe donations made by alleged Chinese spies

Palace to probe donations made by alleged Chinese spies

Published Mar 3, 2025 06:31 am

At A Glance

  • Castro said the government would look into these activities, including reports that there were Chinese nationals involved in illegal activities who have close connections with high-ranking PNP officials.

"This will not be ignored."

The government will investigate the donations made to the Philippine National Police (PNP) by Chinese nationals linked to espionage activities, Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said.

Claire Castro (RTVM)
Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro (PCO screenshot)

Castro said this after the local government of Manila disclosed that it had received 10 motorcycles from a certain Wang Yongyi, of the Qiaoxing Volunteer Group, who was among those arrested for suspected espionage activities in Malacañan and other vital government establishments last month.

In a press briefing on Monday, March 3, Castro said the government would look into these activities, including reports that there were Chinese nationals involved in illegal activities who have close connections with high-ranking PNP officials.

"Talaga pong kapag ganiyan po ang balita at nakarating sa atin iyan kailangan po talagang imbestigahan iyan. Hindi po ito dapat palampasin (When we receive reports like that we are sure to investigate them. This will not be ignored)," she said.

"Pag-aaralan po natin iyan. Kung ito man po ay naging donasyon in good faith, kailangan po talaga nating malaman dahil hindi naman po masama ang tumanggap ng donasyon (We will look into to see if these donations were done in good faith because it's not illegal to accept donations)," she added.

Castro said they would also investigate the LGUs who received the donations.

"Kung sinuman po iyong mga tumanggap na mga opisyal ng LGU dapat siguro po ay malaman natin para hindi na po maulit kung sila man ay nagagamit kung hindi man nila alam na nagagamit sila (We need to know who are the LGU officials involved so we can prevent them from being unwittingly used)," she added.

On Monday, the Manila LGU confirmed receiving the donation of 10 motorcycles. These were turned over to the Manila Police District (MPD).

It said that the donation process was done transparently following established procedures. No other further commitments were made by either party involved.

Last week, Castro said Malacañan will beef up its security following the arrest of three Filipinos and two Chinese nationals for supposedly spying on the Palace, Camp Aguinaldo, Camp Crame, Villamor Airbase, and the United States embassy.

According to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the suspects were arrested after its cybercrime division and special task force were alerted about “suspicious” vehicles carrying International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers. The PNP said these catchers serve as fake cell towers between mobile phones and the tower of the original network provider, allowing messages to be intercepted.

President Marcos has expressed his belief that Chinese sleeper cells or spies are indeed in the Philippines following the arrest of five Chinese nationals for suspected espionage in Palawan last month.

A sleeper cell is a group of people living in secret, waiting to be activated for a specific mission.

Related Tags

claire castro Chinese spy Presidential Communications Office
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