Sanib pwersa ang National Security Council (NSC) at Philippine National Police (PNP) sa pag-validate ng alegasyon na si dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo ay isang Chinese spy.
Ang alegasyon ay nanggaling kay She Zhijang, isang Chinese tycoon na ngayon ay nakakulong sa Thailand. Sinabi ni She sa isang documentary ng Al Jazeera na mayroon siyang hawak na mga ebidensya tungkol sa mga Chinese spy na kasama si Guo, gamit ang pangalang “Guo Hua Ping.”
Ayon kay NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya, kasalukuyan nilang pinag-aaralan ang mga pahayag ni She dahil may malalim itong implikasyon sa pambansang seguridad. Nakatutok din ang PNP Intelligence Group sa pag-imbestiga sa mga posibleng espionage activities ni Guo, pati na rin ang kanyang koneksyon sa mga illegal Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGO).
“We will have to consult with our partner agencies abroad so that we can piece together and find the real reason and real personality of Alice Guo, if she is really an agent of the PRC (People’s Republic of China),” ani Malaya.
“If it turns out in our investigation that she is indeed a spy of the Ministry of (State) Security of the PRC, which is like the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency of the United States) or MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6 of the United Kingdom), it has a big implication because it means that the PRC has such operations going on in our country,” saad pa niya.
Bukod pa sa salaysay ni She, napag-alaman din ng isang Al Jazeera researcher na ang address ni Guo sa Fujian province sa China ay local office ng Chinese Communist Party.
Samantala, nanawagan si Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro na amyendahan ang espionage law ng Pilipinas para maparusahan ang mga sangkot sa spying activities kahit hindi panahon ng digmaan.
“What is important now is that we punish espionage in times of peace, because the espionage law in the Philippines is only effective during times of war. So also a call to action, our legislators know that they need to immediately amend the espionage law so that the government can act correctly and punish to suppress it,” saad ni Teodoro sa mga reporter sa sidelines ng Inaugural Balangay Forum: Safeguarding Philippine Maritime Interest” sa Camp Aguinaldo sa Quezon City.
“What is clear is that she is not a Filipino. Secondly, she falsified documents to pretend that she is a Filipino and thirdly, she was an active co-conspirator to a massive illegal criminal enterprise where all illegal activities come from. If there is such, and being a Chinese national and engaged in such kind of activities in this country, it still damages this country, whether or not it is espionage,” ani Teodoro.
Sa kabila ng patuloy na imbestigasyon, pinaalala ni Teodoro sa mga lokal na opisyal na huwag magpalinlang sa mga international crime group na nagtatangkang makakuha ng foothold sa Pilipinas, tulad ng mga POGO na malapit sa mga kampo militar.
Photo credit: Facebook/HouseofRepsPH