Chinese in PCG reserve force ‘not spies, hackers’

Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Capt. Armand Balilo. FILE PHOTO

There is no basis to the speculation that dozens of Chinese businessmen previously enlisted in the auxiliary force of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) were spying for Beijing or involved in the hacking of the PCG’s website and Facebook page, the agency said on Thursday.

The 36 Chinese nationals who had been allowed to register as PCG Auxiliary (PCGA) members for making donations to the agency were never involved in its sensitive operations, PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Armand Balilo said.

In an interview on “Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon” on Thursday, Balilo said they were “ordinary businessmen” who had helped the agency’s humanitarian assistance response, which led to them being invited to apply for membership in the PCG’s reserve force.

READ: Hearing reveals China nationals recruited to PCG auxiliary force

“We do not have a strong basis to accuse them of being Chinese spies. We also conducted a vetting process when they applied (to be part of the PCGA) and they have been helping the PCG for a long time, but only in the aspect of humanitarian assistance donation,” he said.

On Wednesday, the House transportation committee learned that the Chinese nationals had been working as auxiliary members of the PCG for at least two to three years until they were removed for not undergoing a national security clearance.

Clearance requisites

But Balilo clarified on Thursday that there was a vetting process for PCGA members that involved securing clearances from the Bureau of Immigration, Philippine National Police, and National Bureau of Investigation to check their eligibility and qualifications.

During Wednesday’s House hearing, PCG commandant Adm. Ronnie Gavan told Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Barbers that the 36 were expelled from PCGA after it was discovered that they did not have national security clearance.

“We already went to a process in coordination with relevant intelligence and national security concerned agencies of the government, and in fact, we have already delisted 36 of them,” Gavan told the panel.

He explained that volunteers were allowed to be part of the PCGA as long as they obtained national security clearance.

But Gavan admitted this requirement was put in place only when President Marcos named him PCG commandant in 2023.

Applied in 2015

Asked whether the 36 Chinese were involved in incidents of hacking the PCG website and its Facebook page, Balilo replied in the negative.

“No. These are ordinary businessmen. When they applied, it was back in 2015 and the issue over the West Philippine Sea was not as pronounced,” he said.

He also allayed concerns that the delisted auxiliary members may have been privy to the PCG’s confidential operations, intelligence, and data.

“They do not have any participation in the PCG’s activities, especially in sensitive operations, and they also cannot enter areas where we have operations and other matters that we must take care of. There is nothing to worry here,” Balilo said.

He said the foreign enlistees’ task was limited to making donations to the PCG’s humanitarian assistance fund in case of calamities.

Endorsement

“We are very strict and we do not allow other people to get information from the PCG’s operations… We are very careful in our intelligence data and operations, and we did not fear that they might get past us,” Balilo said.

He explained that other Chinese-Filipino members of PCGA recommended that the 36 Chinese businessmen be allowed to join the PCG’s civilian volunteer support group.

“Now if there are reports that they are engaged in espionage, then the National Security Council will be the one to monitor them and deal with them,” Balilo said.

Last month, the Department of Information and Communications Technology reported attempts to hack the websites of several government agencies, including the PCG, and that these were traced to locations in China.

Under Republic Act No. 9993, the PCGA is a civilian voluntary uniformed organization attached to the PCG and mandated to assist the Coast Guard.

With around 5,000 members, the force has its own chain of command but the organizational structure is parallel to the PCG, with members given military ranks and uniforms. Documents from local PCGA units available online indicate that foreigners are not prohibited from joining the force, and in fact, encouraged to bring their trade set of skills.

While they do not receive pay, PCGA members are granted allowances, medical, health and burial benefits, and military honors in recognition of their service.

‘Heads should roll’

A number of celebrities have joined the PCGA in recent years, such as actors and hosts Gerald Anderson, Julia Barretto, Matteo Guidicelli, Nico Bolzico, Erwin Heussaff, Diether Ocampo and Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez.

But some House lawmakers were not convinced that the enlistment of Chinese nationals in the PCG, an agency mandated to protect the country’s maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea, was entirely harmless.

On Thursday, Tingog Rep. Jude Acidre said heads must roll to ensure accountability in what he described as a “malicious and serious threat to national security.”

READ: PH Coast Guard to conduct antiterror exercises

“It’s not what we can consider an honest mistake,” he told reporters. “Why did they even get in and who allowed them to?”

“To think, when you are a PCG Auxiliary, you actually wear a uniform [of] the PCG, the agency involved in protecting the West Philippine Sea,” Acidre said, adding: “Isn’t that like a double whammy?”

Tensions between China and the Philippines have escalated recently amid Beijing’s aggressive acts, including water cannon attacks on Philippine ships or boats on resupply missions to remote outposts in the disputed waters.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea on the basis of historical rights, including waters within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone.

But its sweeping claims were invalidated by a 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling, which Beijing refuses to recognize. —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH