House quad committee’s probe results in spy bills

MANILA, Philippines — The investigation of the House quad committee into Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) and the war on drugs has resulted in an initial proposed law on espionage.

The chairs of the four House panels and nine other lawmakers sought the approval of the Espionage Law of 2024 that would harshly punish spying and conspiring to commit espionage, amending the espionage provision in the 1932 Revised Penal Code.

Aside from revisions in the Revised Penal Code, House Bill (HB) No. 10998 is believed to be the most significant and specific legislation on espionage since Commonwealth Act No. 616 was enacted in 1941.

READ: House bill seeking to enable espionage law during peacetime filed

Espionage has been a felony in the country since 1932, but HB 10998 would mainly update the country’s law on spying, increasing its maximum penal provisions from six years to 12 years to reclusion temporal or 20 years.

But there are other national security-related laws, such as the Human Security Act of 2007 (Republic Act 9372) and the Anti-Hijacking Law (RA 6235), with their own penal provisions.

The HB 10998 authors said the bill was crafted out of evidence and testimonies in the quad committee inquiry showing “highly questionable activities that have serious implications” on national security.

Created in August, the four panels that comprise the committee are the committees on dangerous drugs, on public order and safety, on human rights and on public accounts.

It was tasked to probe the possible links of Pogos with Chinese syndicates, the illegal drug trade, and extrajudicial killings in the country.

The authors of HB 10998 include quad committee cochairs Robert Ace Barbers, Dan Fernandez, Bienvenido Abante Jr. and Joseph Stephen Paduano; Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr.; Deputy Speaker David Suarez; Deputy Majority Leader Francisco Paolo Ortega V; and Assistant Majority Leader Jefferson Khonghun.

Aside from HB 10998, also pending in the lower chamber is HB 11040, or the proposed Counter Foreign Interference Act, which penalizes foreign interference in the country’s political and governmental affairs.

Caloocan City Rep. Oscar Malapitan, who chairs the committee on national defense, filed HB 11040, which would also create a task force as an oversight body.

HB 11040 was coauthored by national defense panel vice-chair Raul Tupas, Pasig City Rep. Roman Romulo, and 1-Rider Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez.