The National Security Council (NSC) said its case against the alleged Chinese spy is a strong one.
“We have a solid case against the Chinese agent or the spy that we arrested,” NSC Assistant Director-General Jonathan Malaya said of Deng Yuanqing, who was seized alongside two Filipino cohorts for suspected intelligence-gathering efforts at key civilian and military sites.
Malaya stressed that the arrest had followed an “extensive case build-up” with surveillance, and was not a hasty “one-day operation.”
“So nakita natin ‘yung galaw niya. Nakita natin na pinuntahan niya ‘yung mga lugar na kahina-hinala (So we saw his movements. We saw that he went to suspicious areas)—places of significance, military importance to us … Nag-surveillance siya doon (He conducted surveillance there), and let me emphasize also that they were caught red-handed,” Malaya explained.
“Hawak-hawak niya ‘yung mga surveillance equipment (He was holding the surveillance equipment).”
During a regular press conference on January 22, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing expects the Philippines to remain objective, cease publicizing claims of a Chinese spy, and instead uphold the “lawful rights” of Chinese nationals in the country.
To that, Malaya responded that Yuanqing will face due process.
“This individual will have his day in court. Kaya nga natin finile ‘yung kaso, diba?” he said. “We filed the necessary cases for violation of the Espionage Act and the Cybercrime Law, and he will have his opportunity.”
“But insofar as the government is concerned, we have a very solid case and we have all the necessary evidences to prove his culpability,” he concluded.
