AFP checking reported recruitment of PH military by 'Chinese' firms

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday said it is looking into the reports on suspected Chinese firms that were allegedly recruiting former and active Filipino military personnel.

“We are still checking this. Yes, we are still in the process of checking this,” AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. told reporters.

For his part, Department of National Defense (DND) spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said the DND ordered the AFP to investigate the concern.

“We did pick up the activity. I cannot talk about it kasi it’’s a new issue but nagbigay na ng guidance sa AFP to investigate and to look into this modus operandi,” Andolong told reporters.

(We did pick up the activity. I cannot talk about it because it's a new issue but guidance has been given to the AFP to investigate and to look into this modus operandi.)

“It will require more interagency investigation kasi sa cyber it's very difficult to determine yung footprint nitong mga ‘to if they want to hide themselves,” he added.

(It will require more interagency investigation because in cybercrimes it’s very difficult to determine the footprint of these people if they want to hide themselves.)

Recruitment

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) earlier said suspected Chinese companies pretending to be American or European enterprises have been allegedly recruiting Filipino soldiers.

DICT Undersecretary for Cybersecurity and Upskilling Jeffrey Ian Dy said these firms have been offering their target Filipino recruits part-time jobs as analysts online.

"Sasabihin nila they came from Western [countries, that] they are organizations from parang European or American," Dy said.

(They will say that they came from Western countries, that they are organizations from, like, European or American countries.)

"Pero kapag tinignan mo, meron kasing facility sa internet na ang tawag WHOIS para malaman mo kung kanino registered yung mga domain name, 'yung pangalan ng website, makikita mo na naka-register sila mga companies na Chinese companies," he added.

(There is a facility on the internet called WHOIS that allows users to find out who registered the domain names or the name of the website. When you check through that, you will see that they are registered as Chinese companies.)

Hundreds of dollars per hour are being offered for the jobs, according to Dy.

Due to this, the DICT advised the Philippine military to be cautious and not to be enticed by these job offers. — Joviland Rita/RSJ, GMA Integrated News