MANILA, Philippines – The country is providing legal assistance, particularly by hiring a local lawyer, to represent the three Filipinos detained in China for alleged espionage.
In a media interview, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo Jose De Vega said that the lawyer is awaiting approval from local authorities to be able to visit the detained Filipinos.
De Vega also said that the Philippine government will not further comment on the case, but assured the family of the detained Filipinos that the DFA is working on providing all the necessary legal assistance, including funding for their legal counsel.
“There's a local lawyer taking on their case funded by the DFA Legal Assistance Fund and we’re strongly requesting the Chinese authorities at least to allow (the lawyer) to see them in their detention in Hainan,” he said.
De Vega mentioned that the approval of the provincial governor is needed for this particular request, and that they are awaiting the response.
He also confirmed that the Philippine ambassador, consul general and other relevant Philippine government officials are “talking” to Chinese authorities and lawyers to be able to provide assistance to the detained Filipinos.
In a report from state media China Daily last week, it said that Chinese authorities “obtained conclusive evidence” of the involvement of the three Filipino nationals in espionage, with reports stating that since 2021, the “Philippine intelligence agency” has recruited and trained Filipino nationals living in China “to gather information on the country’s military deployment.”
China Daily also reported that the three detained nationals have “confessed” and “expressed remorse”.
The National Security Council (NSC) of the Philippines has denied there was espionage, De Vega emphasized.
The arrested nationals were former scholars of the Hainan Government Scholarship Program, established under the sisterhood agreement between the provinces of Hainan and Palawan, with an estimated 50 scholars from Palawan sent to the Hainan National University.
