The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has uncovered espionage efforts that sought information about personnel deployed on the grounded warship BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, including details that could be used to pressure their families.

Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, AFP spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea (WPS), said the information was among those sought by foreign handlers through Filipino contacts who had access to government communications.

The National Security Council (NSC) earlier disclosed that three Filipinos were involved in passing information to foreign contacts. The information gathered included government positions on WPS, defense diplomacy plans, and naval modernization programs, among others.

One of the three alleged Filipino spies apprehended by the military through its Insider Threat Program (ITP), which aims to detect and stop espionage, leaks, or sabotage coming from people within the organization, was a civilian who had close contact with a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) officer directly involved in rotation and resupply (RORE) missions for troops onboard the BRP Sierra Madre.

“They were asking information from that civilian who had a close contact in the Coast Guard about BRP Sierra Madre’s troops. Because if you know who the people there are, you can find out where their families are,” Trinidad said on Sunday, March 8.

“You can co-opt their families so you can gain access to that person and give instructions that could make them work for you,” he added.

The Philippine Navy (PN) maintains a small contingent aboard the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II–era ship intentionally grounded at Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to assert Philippine sovereignty.

The vessel serves as an outpost in the disputed waters and regularly receives RORE missions from the military.

The PCG often provides security escorts for civilian resupply boats contracted by the military to deliver food and other supplies to soldiers guarding the grounded ship.

However, China has repeatedly attempted to block these missions in recent years, and the discovery of Filipino spies passing information to their foreign handlers could be one of the reasons why Beijing appeared to know in advance how the missions would be carried out, Trinidad said.

He noted that even small pieces of information could become significant once assembled.

“It’s like putting together a puzzle. You gather different pieces. By the time you complete it, you can see the whole picture,” he said.

The activities also involved collecting data about the country’s military plans.

“It includes our modernization projects. For the Philippine Navy, they passed information about our strategic basing plans, where we will develop our bases. what facilities we will put there. Those are the kinds of information being gathered,” Trinidad said.

Meanwhile, the AFP said it continues to monitor insider threats under the ITP.

“As we speak right now, marami pa diyan (there are many more out there). But I would like to say that our insider threat program continues to work continuously,” Trinidad said.