Navy officer refused China ‘spy job offer’

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

March 8, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — One of the two Philippine Navy officers allegedly offered to spy for China refused the job and is now cooperating with three others who have been apprehended for giving sensitive security information to their handlers abroad.

Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said “Charles” was approached by a certain “Jessica” in 2024.

But unlike “Lawrence” who used to work with the Department of National Defense (DND) before he moved to the Philippine Navy, Charles declined the offer.

“He (Charles) was flagged by the ITP (Insider Threat Program) and he admitted,” Trinidad told The STAR yesterday, referring to the multi-agency initiative formed under the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) to handle the matter.

Trinidad said Charles and Lawrence, along with “Allison” of the DND and “Danny” of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), are now under military custody where they are cooperating in a continuing investigation.

One of those behind the recruitment was a certain “Scott Chan” who appears to be Chinese, though some of the “foreign handlers” are English-speaking, with some having British-Australian accents.

Trinidad said the trend or pattern and attempt to infiltrate the cognitive domain of Filipinos and extract information that could be derogatory or dangerous and endanger the lives of Filipinos started in 2022.

He noted that all four Filipinos were “flagged” or discovered at about the same time in 2025 through the ITP, as earlier revealed by the National Security Council (NSC).

Allegedly, information that was being extracted for a fee from those recruited involved matters pertaining to West Philippine Sea operations.

NSC spokesman Cornelio Valencia Jr. described the spying operation as “a serious national security matter.”

“The operations of these individuals acting on the behest of Chinese intelligence have been addressed and terminated,” Valencia said.

Ji Lingpeng, spokesman for the Chinese embassy, said the accusations about China’s spying activities are lies and fabrications, stressing it does not meddle in the internal affairs of other countries. — Emmanuel Tupasa