By Benjamin Pulta
MANILA – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday said it has forwarded to concerned government agencies the details of the supposed Chinese spy that allegedly conducted espionage activities in key military and civilian infrastructure in the country.
In a statement, BI Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said their records showed that the 39-year-old Chinese national is married to a Filipina, and has traveled in and out of the Philippines since 2015.
Viado said they shared the information with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to support ongoing investigations.
The immigration chief said they will not implement deportation proceedings against the Chinese national “until all local accountabilities and penalties have been resolved and served.”
“We will ensure that we will identify any foreign cohorts that might be in the country assisting him. These alleged spies have no place in the President’s Bagong Pilipinas. They will face serious punishment for their crimes,” Viado said.
Initial reports said a Chinese national and his two Filipino accomplices, using a sports utility vehicle loaded with devices for espionage, conducted surveillance operations in key civilian and military installations.
NBI Office of the Cybercrime Division chief Jeremy Lotoc identified the three as Chinese national Deng Yuanqing, and Filipinos Ronel Jojo Balundo Besa and Jason Amado Fernandez.
The three were arrested on Jan. 17 by the NBI at a condominium in Makati City. Among the items seized included a Toyota Rav4 SUV equipped which was used as a “rover” for locator and mapping devices which can pinpoint coordinates accurate to up to a centimeter.
The NBI and the Armed Forces of the Philippines said the seized equipment has wide military applications such as artillery and missile guidance, as well as identifying the capacity for vehicle traffic in the areas surveilled, which included sites used for military exercises and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites. (PNA)
