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MANILA, Philippines — Over 5,000 sets of personal data from mobile numbers had been harvested by the spy devices seized from a Chinese national’s vehicle parked outside the Commission on Elections (Comelec)’s main office in Intramuros, Manila last week, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday.
Ferdinand Lavin, spokesman for the NBI, said the vehicle – which passed through sensitive areas including the Supreme Court, Department of Justice, Villamor Air Base, Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Comelec – would have enabled access to mobile subscriber identity.
While Lavin could not disclose what types of data had been harvested by the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catcher loaded in the vehicle, he said the NBI was already securing a warrant to examine the data stored in the device’s computer.
“They picked up 5,000 mobile subscriber identities. They intercepted these from the various offices, even private citizens they passed by. Their range is 500 meters to three kilometers, so we can just imagine in highly populated areas especially in the metropolis, they have picked up so much and this is subject of our application for confirmation of warrant to examine computer data,” Lavin said at the resumption yesterday of the Senate’s inquiry into alleged Chinese espionage activities through submersible drones and hacking activities.
The NBI on April 29 arrested a Chinese national, identified as Tak Hoi Lao, outside the Comelec main office for alleged violations of the espionage law, Data Privacy Act and Cybercrime Prevention Act.
Authorities confiscated a suspected IMSI catcher from his vehicle – a surveillance device capable of mimicking cell towers to intercept calls, texts and track phone locations.
Lavin said the NBI has yet to ascertain whether the data harvested by the IMSI catcher had already been transmitted elsewhere, but assured the committee that it was fast-tracking the issuance of a warrant so that countermeasures can be set in place before the elections on Monday.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia, however, assured the committee that none of the poll body’s systems were compromised following the seizure of the IMSI catcher, saying election data were not being stored at the poll body’s Intramuros office.
“We guarantee that our system, our machines which are 94,000 more or less – including the contingency machines – are standalone machines, they are not connected to anything. Even if it’s unplugged from electricity, it will work because their batteries can last for three days,” he explained.
Garcia said its systems, particularly the precinct finder, had been subjected to 35 million hacking attempts during the 2022 elections. This year, some three million attempts had been detected.
“None of these attempts were successful,” he added.
Meanwhile, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Francis Tolentino urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to always publicize the filing of diplomatic protests against China, saying the public needs to know that the government is responding to serious issues with China, particularly espionage.
DFA Assistant Secretary Marshall Alferez said they would take Tolentino’s suggestions into consideration but highlighted difficulties in issuing protests, especially if foreign countries concerned won’t take responsibility for certain incidents.
For its part, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency said it was monitoring dredging operations being done in Manila Bay as most of the vessels conducting operations were Chinese-operated.
Francisco Acedillo, NICA deputy director, said that apart from the one in Manila Bay, there are dredging operations in other coastal municipalities in the country.
‘Backwater country’
Tolentino also bared at the hearing that InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc. had been sending monthly reports to the Chinese embassy detailing its progress in promoting the narrative that “without China, the Philippines would still be a backwater country.”
A monthly report for November 2024 presented during the hearing detailed campaign objectives and goals which included pushing narratives that help burnish the reputation of the Chinese in the country.
“Inculcate to Filipinos that China and the Chinese people is a big part of our growing economy and our culture. Without them, we will still be a backwater country,” the campaign objectives read.
“Without (China), many Filipinos will still be dirt poor. Without (China), hundreds of millions of Filipinos will be jobless/unemployed,” it added, stressing how China has invested and donated much to the country since the 20th century.
InfinitUs co-founder Pin Li – a Chinese businessman – denied seeing these reports and the scope of work.
Tolentino pressed Li about the PR firm’s ties to the Chinese embassy, citing travel records from 2024 to 2025 showing incorporators of the firm flying to and from China throughout the period.
Li’s records, according to Tolentino, show that the businessman had been flying to and from China almost every month since 2019.
“I cannot tolerate any more lies, especially at this period when we are confronted not just with lies but disinformation. You’re making this committee part of this disinformation campaign and it pains me to hear you refuse to answer a question that would have probably alleviated whatever predicament you’re in a position right now,” Tolentino said.
The senator said the discussions throughout the inquiry were sufficient enough to connect the dots from the espionage-related arrests in Palawan, Subic, Makati and Intramuros, to the discovery of submersible drones and disinformation campaigns in the country.
Robust legislation
He said the committee was confident enough to come up with “more robust legislative measures that will confront” the espionage, disinformation and influence operations of foreign countries in the Philippines.
“The Commonwealth Act 616 is not enough. The current cybersecurity laws would not suffice. We still need a more dynamic and proactive legislative framework but we need the cooperation of all,” Tolentino said.
“I believe that this spying, even if they deny it, is true. What else do we need to prove? All of this is affecting our country, especially our youth who are easily led to believe the content of our gadgets and cellphones,” he added.
Meanwhile, in an interview with ANC, retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio pushed for a “stand alone law” requiring social media sites to secure the real identities of those using their platforms to prevent them from engaging in illegal activities, including posting of libelous statements online.
Carpio recalled that during the deliberation on the SIM Card Registration Bill, he suggested requiring all internet platforms to secure the real identities of users. But this was vetoed by former president Rodrigo Duterte.
“Remember that when the SIM Card bill was approved, which I recommended to the Senate to require all internet platforms to secure the real identity of those who use their platform because if you are, say Facebook or YouTube user, if you would give your real identity, where you live, you would not be so brazen to libel anyone because most of these users use fictitious names,” he said.
If the social media sites would disclose the real name of the account user to the person defamed, Carpio said “that would have killed all the trolls.”
“All we have to do is bring back that provision or file a stand alone law on that provision, then Facebook and YouTube will be afraid that if they don’t get real identity, then they would be responsible, they would be sued,” he said. — Evelyn Macairan
