More arrests in the next few days, NSC's Malaya says
![More suspected Chinese spies to be arrested in the next few days — NSC's Malaya](https://images.gmanews.tv/webpics/2023/08/Malaya_2023_08_07_14_40_06.jpg)
National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said Wednesday that there will be more arrests of suspected spies in the next few days.
“There will be an announcement in the next few days. What I can say right now is that there will be more arrests and this includes what happened there in Palawan,” Malaya said during a forum.
“We have ramped up our counterintelligence efforts. And because of that, we are slowly unraveling the conspiracy, this operation that being done by foreign actors to conduct espionage in the Philippines,” he added.
Malaya refused to disclose more details as he does not want to preempt the efforts of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), but he said the government is looking into the reported espionage activities.
Foreign tourists were arrested for alleged espionage in Palawan recently.
A source told GMA Integrated News that the suspects were Chinese citizens with links to the Chinese man who was earlier arrested also for alleged spying, according to John Consulta's report on "24 Oras" Tuesday night.
Residents in the community were alarmed when they saw the foreigners taking cellphone videos of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ship in the area.
They became even more concerned when the guests put up a CCTV camera pointed at the sea. The camera was placed up a tree without the permission of the resort owner.
On January 20, authorities also reported that a Chinese man and two Filipinos were arrested for allegedly conducting surveillance activities in the Philippines.
The group frequently visited military camps, bases, power plants, offices of local government units, police camps, seaports, airports, and shopping malls, according to the NBI.
They also visited some Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites of the Philippines and the United States.
But the wife of the arrested Chinese denied that her husband, identified as Deng Yuangin, is a spy. — Joviland Rita/RSJ, GMA Integrated News