Two ranking members of the House of Representatives have expressed great concern over the reports of Filipino spies being paid by China for information that could be used against the Philippines.

Deputy Speakers Zambales 1st district Rep. Jay Khonghun and La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V are calling on local authorities to respond to the matter, which could have far-reaching implications on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue and national security as a whole.

“Bilang taga-Zambales po, mahalaga para sa amin na masiguro na wala pong espiya ang China o ano man pong bansa sa ating Philippine National Defense, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) at sa kung ano man pong government offices," Khonghun said.

(As someone from Zambales, it is important for us to ensure that there are no spies from China or any other country within our Philippine National Defense, PCG, or in any of our government offices.)

Khonghun's province faces the WPS, where there has been an escalation in acts of maritime aggression from foreigners in recent years.

"Dapat po hindi matapos sa pagkakaso lamang — dapat po ay may mas masususing imbestigasyon dito (It should not end with just filing a case — there must be a more thorough investigation into this," he reckoned.

His fellow deputy speaker, Ortega, felt sadness over the reports that some of his compatriots chose a different side.

“Noong una ko pong nabasa ang tungkol dyan — ang una ko pong naramdaman ay lungkot, dahil may mga Pilipino na pinili na makipag-tulungan sa China-linked spy ops (When I first read about that, the first thing I felt was sadness, because there are Filipinos who chose to cooperate with China-linked spy ops)," he said.

"Dapat po talaga na tutukan yan hindi lamang sa [PCG] at Philippine National Defense but also, sa lahat po ng sanggay ng pamahalaan (This truly needs to be closely monitored not only in the PCG and Philippine National Defense but also across all branches of government)," Ortega added.

There are already calls from within the House of Representatives to investigate the alleged China-funded spy operations by the quad-committee (quad-comm) 2.0. The mega-panel is composed of the Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Accounts, Public Order and Saftey, and Human Rights.

Both Khonghun and Ortega--members of the "Young Guns" bloc--were active participants of the quad-comm hearings during the previous 19th Congress.