Court authorizes examination on high-tech gadgets of arrested Chinese citizen

A Makati court has authorized the conduct of a digital forensic examination on the high-tech and military-grade devices recovered from a Chinese citizen who was arrested last month.

According to the order posted by dzBB’s Mark Makalalad on Friday, the Makati court issued a warrant to disclose computer data (WDCD) to the Philippine National Police (PNP) after it found probable cause to believe that "illegal interception have been committed, are being committed, or about to be committed."

By virtue of the WDCD, the Makati court said the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) is authorized to direct officers from the Anti-Cybercrime Group to immediately conduct a digital forensic examination.

“[Y]ou are hereby authorized to issue an order directing the applicant to retain and utilize the seized and examined computer data, including the result of the onsite and offsite computer forensic examination, in the investigation and the subsequent filing for violation of Republic Act 10175… against respondent and his cohorts,” it said.

It also authorized the PNP-CIDG to utilize the data it will gather in the filing of a case.

FLASH REPORT:

PNP-Anti-Cybercrime Group, inatasan ng Korte na magsagawa ng “forensic digital examination” sa mga kahinahinalang gamit na narekober mula sa Chinese na naaresto ng CIDG @dzbb @gmanews pic.twitter.com/bhZiGubwQC

— Mark Makalalad (@MMakalalad) June 13, 2024

The court also ordered the CIDG to submit a return on the WDCD and turn-over the custody of the disclosed data to the court within a certain period.

The items that will be checked include one Iphone 15, one antenna system multi-band directional, two pieces of battery units, one solar inverter, one radio receiver/transmitter, one huawei router, one Apple tablet, two mobile phones, one laptop, one inverter unit, one aerial drone, one CPU, and one portable power station.

In May, authorities arrested a Chinese citizen for pointing a gun in Makati City.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines earlier said that they were checking whether the devices they retrieved from the Chinese national were possibly used for communications hacking.

The Chinese national is currently detained at the CIDG National Capital Region Custodial Center. He said he had been a resident of the Philippines for the past six years.

When asked what he did for a living in the country, he replied, "POGO" (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator). --VAL, GMA Integrated News