SENATOR Panfilo Lacson warned on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, against Chinese “sleeper agents” and even operatives from China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) who are already embedded in the Philippines to engage in espionage.
During a hearing of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation into the anti-espionage bills, Lacson urged law enforcement and other concerned government agencies to strengthen follow-up operations against those arrested in earlier anti-espionage operations.
"The whole network of espionage operations must be dismantled or at least decimated to a large degree kasi agents come and go. Inaresto mo, may papalit diyan. And I have one good information na maraming sleeper agents, even regular members of PLA na nandito. Widespread eh,” said Lacson.
“Time is of the essence. Continuing ang kanilang espionage ops and right now ang ina-apply natin is Commonwealth Act 616,” he added.
Lacson earlier filed Senate Bill 33, or An Act Penalizing Espionage and Other Similar Offenses Against National Security.
Over the past months, National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Atty. Ferdinand Lavin said 13 Chinese nationals, five Filipinos and a Cambodian engaged in suspected espionage were arrested in at least six operations.
The arrested Filipinos were acting as guides, drivers, or aides for the foreign nationals, according to Lavin.
Recovered from these alleged spies were unauthorized International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers, a malicious base station that impersonates a legitimate cellular tower to intercept, manipulate, or disrupt mobile network communications. It is often used for unauthorized surveillance, eavesdropping, data theft, and network disruption.
Lacson raised the need for continuous hot pursuit operations against other suspects, including those stemming from tactical interrogation of those captured.
“Yan ang mas interest ko kasi di dapat matapos arrest. This is an unusual crime committed against our national security unlike other ordinary criminal cases we stop at filing charges and pursuing their conviction in court. Ito it entails more intelligence and follow up operations,” he said.
“So kailangan ang pursuit operations na walang letup. If we rest on our laurels, naging complacent tayo, relax na tayo, but that is not supposed to be the case. The more we should pursue and be more vigilant in conducting intelligence and law enforcement operations,” he added.
Meanwhile, Captain Xerxes Fernandez of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said the agency is seeing a “creeping intrusion” of foreign elements into the country’s security environment or security infrastructure.
“Right now, we're stepping up our vetting process especially for the members of PCG Auxiliary. I think the last one to be delisted was Commodore Sy, which was caught recently. He was part of the Coast Guard, entered the Coast Guard Auxiliary in 2018,” he said.
“Right now, we are finding out that there were Chinese nationals who were enlisted in the PCGA,” he added.
Fernandez was referring to nickel businessman Jason Sy, who was arrested on August 21 at the airport over alleged falsification of his Filipino citizenship.
In her privilege speech, Senator Risa Hontiveros tagged Sy as Alice Guo 2.0, the full blooded Chinese national who became a mayor of Bamban, Tarlac.
Guo is currently detained over her alleged involvement in the illegal operation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.
Hontiveros said Sy, just like Guo, acquired Filipino citizenship by falsifying documents with the intention of pushing for foreign interest.
“At a time when the West Philippine Sea is a constant flashpoint of foreign incursions, ‘yung mga ganitong klaseng butas sa ating seguridad ay hindi na po katanggap-tanggap,” she said.
“Colleagues, the dangers do not end there. Records show that Sy is involved in mining operations in our country. Raw nickel ore is shipped abroad to China, feeding the industrial needs of other nations while leaving us with environmental degradation and local communities with little benefit,” she added. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)