Chinese man, 2 Filipinos charged with spying

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation arrested last week a Chinese national and two Filipinos for alleged espionage activities targeting not only military sites in the country but also power installations—and even the Malampaya onshore gas plant.

The three suspects, Deng Yuanqing, Ronel Jojo Balundo Besa and Jayson Amado Fernandez, were allegedly engaged in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations “to the prejudice of our national defense,” NBI Cybercrime Division chief Jeremy Lotoc said in a briefing on Monday that was also joined by Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The suspects have been charged with espionage and with violation of Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

READ: Chinese espionage in PH: ‘They come in many forms’

Their case stemmed from a report by AFP naval operatives claiming that a group of Chinese nationals, in the guise of developing autonomous vehicles, engaged in surveillance that compromised the country’s national defense.

Acting on that report, NBI operatives identified six members of the group, including Deng, a software engineer, and a financier in China.

Lotoc described Deng as a graduate of the People’s Liberation Army University of Science and Technology in Nanjing who specializes in control and automation engineering.

Deng was also suspected to be a mole or “sleeper agent” who had been in the country for five years.

The NBI said his activities appeared “completely normal” and he was capable of blending in with various groups “without drawing attention to himself.”

Malampaya, Army unit HQ

Besa and Fernandez reportedly admitted serving as Deng’s driver and assistant, visiting military and police headquarters, municipal halls and other local government offices, and even power installations.

The NBI claimed that among the areas they visited were a substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines in Batangas province and even the headquarters of the Philippine Army’s 201st Infantry Brigade in Cavinti, Laguna.

The NBI even claimed that Deng and the company also visited the Malampaya gas field off Palawan’s waters.

Lotoc said their operation began only last December.

Brawner, for his part, said, “We saw that some of the [targeted] areas are Edca sites.” He was referring to the nine locations in the country selected for the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) between the Philippine and US armed forces.

In “military targeting,” the AFP chief said, information such as activities in the area and the vehicles that can pass through these terrains is vital.

“There are details that satellites cannot capture but can be observed on the ground. These are all very important pieces of information that we believe, if used by the military, would be very dangerous for us, especially since we’ve seen that some of the areas they visited are Edca sites, as I mentioned, including military camps. This is very dangerous once the data is used by another military,” Brawner said.

Lotoc said the suspects had finished mapping the entire Luzon and were planning to survey the rest of the archipelago before their arrest.

(2025/01/21-05:50)