Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. said Monday, March 24, that the “abuses” allegedly being committed by People’s Republic of China (PRC) President Xi Jinping are tainting his leadership and may cause his eventual downfall.
Teodoro, who graced the 49th founding anniversary of the Western Command (Wescom) in Palawan, was asked by reporters for a reaction about the reported detention of three Filipinos, including two Palaweños, in China over espionage claims.
“Ang bilin sa amin ng DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs] sila ang sasagot sa lahat ng katanungan tungkol dyan (The DFA advised us that they will be the one to answer all questions about that),” he said. “But the thing is, ang nahuhuli natin ay illegal activities (whoever we caught before have conducted illegal activities).”
The defense chief also cited reports last week that China has executed four Canadians who had drug smuggling charges.
“I mean that goes to show you it’s not China per se but a political clique that disregards everything,” Teodoro said.
“At ‘yan dahil kay Xi Jinping at ang kanyang pagmamalabis, ‘yan ang makakasira sa liderato siguro ng kanyang partido sa China at ‘yung goodwill na naitanim ng kanyang predecessors, sinira niya (And because of Xi Jinping and his abuses, that’s what will probably destroy his leadership at his party [China’s Communist Party or CCP] in China, and the goodwill planted by his predecessors, he destroyed it),” he added.
Last March 13, the DFA confirmed that three Filipinos have been detained in Hainan, China over allegations of espionage.
The Palawan Provincial Information Office (PIO) said two of the Filipino detainees went back to Hainan to work as they were former beneficiaries of China’s Hainan Government Scholarship Program established under a 2017 agreement that made Palawan and Hainan “sister provinces”.
Teodoro said the DND was informed by the DFA about the incident.
“I understand it’s a matter of concern for the Palaweños. But it’s also a lesson that China, the people who control the government there are not people who you can rely on to approach legal processes fairly,” he noted.
Mr. Kuo Yu-jen, a professor at the National Sun Yat-sen University’s Institute of China and Asia-Pacific Studies in Taiwan, said the Filipinos’ arrest could be a form of retaliation by China after the Philippines arrested Chinese nationals who were accused of espionage in recent months.
“Chinese [are] usually doing this kind of hostage retaliation,” Kuo said in an interview over Taiwan Talks on March 22. “So those Palawan students arrested at Hainan Island is a direct result of Filipino crackdown.”
Government troops led by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have arrested at least 11 Chinese nationals suspected to have committed spying activities since January this year.
The first to be arrested was Deng Yuanqing in Makati City on Jan. 17 along with his two Filipino cohorts. Then, five more suspects were arrested from Jan. 24 to 25 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Pasay City, Manila, and Dumaguete in a series of operations. They were identified as Cheng Hai, Wu Cheng Ting, Wang Yong Yi, Wu Chin Ren, and Cai Shaohuang.
The latest arrest was made last March 19 during a raid at a suspected Pogo facility in Subic Bay, Zambales. Arrested were five Chinese nationals identified as Ye Tianwu (also known as Qing Feng or Qiu Feng), Xu Xining, Ye Xiaocan, Su Anlong, and He Peng; a Cambodian, and two Filipinos.
Stronger defense, regional cooperation
Meanwhile, Teodoro emphasized the need for a stronger national defense posture, enhanced regional engagements, and proactive measures against security threats, particularly in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
In his keynote address during Wescom’s anniversary, Teodoro commended the troops’ steadfast commitment to its mandate amid growing geopolitical challenges. He stressed that a united front comprising the military, government, and Filipino people is crucial in defending the nation’s sovereign rights and maritime interests.
With the theme “Wescom @49: Kaisa sa Pagpapanatili ng Kapayapaan, Pagtatanggol sa Ating Soberanya at Karapatan, at Kaunlaran sa Kanluran, Tungo sa Bagong Pilipinas,” the event underscored the Command’s dedication to safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and regional stability.
Teodoro emphasized the importance of Wescom as a “controlled laboratory of future developments” for a modern, multi-domain, and interoperable armed force under the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC). He also stressed the need for internal security operations to evolve in response to emerging threats posed by external actors seeking to undermine the Philippines’ territorial integrity and maritime claims.
“Much as they (China’s Communist Party) would like to claim, no ASEAN country accepts the legitimacy of that 10-dash line, because that is the biggest fiction and lie that can be sold to any right-thinking person,” he asserted.