MULING umapela ang National Security Council (NSC) sa dalawang kapulungan ng Kongreso na bumalangkas at amyendahan ang antigong Anti-Espionage Law ng Pilipinas na hindi akma sa makabagong panahon.

Ito ay kasunod ng pagkakadiskubre sa well planned at orchestrated spying, matapos madakip ang isang hinihinalang miyembro ng Chinese sleeper cell sa Pilipinas, na nagsasagawa ng unauthorized intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities sa bansa.

Ayon kay National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, dapat iprayoridad ang pagpasa ng mga amyenda sa Espionage Act, gayundin ang Countering Foreign Interference and Malign Influence Bill para magkaroon ng mas nakatatakot na batas laban sa pag-iispiya.

Ayon sa NSC chief, mahalaga ang pagpapalakas ng legal framework ng bansa para epektibong matugunan ang naglilitawang mga banta sa seguridad.

Tahasang sinabi ni Año, hindi dapat na magkaroon ng pagkakataon ang sinomang indibidwal o grupo na naghahanap ng pagkakataon para makompromiso ang pambansang seguridad ng bansa.

Sa isang pulong balitaan, nilinaw ni Navy Inspector General Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, AFP spokesman on West Philippine Sea, lubhang naka-aalarma kung makokompormiso ang national security ng bansa ng dahil orchestrated spying.

“Whether in the political arena, in economics, in information, or in the military sphere, information is very vital. If we notice what happened just recently, the Chinese national may be an isolated case. But if you look at the bigger picture, last month we received the submersible glider, the drone, from fisherfolks, it’s the fifth that we have in our possession undergoing forensics.”

Ayon kay Trinidad, well-orchestrated at may pattern silang nakikita sa serye ng mga paniniktik na kanilang nadidiskubre mula sa pag-eespiya sa ilalim ng dagat hanggang sa mapping ng mahahalagang military facilities at maging sa power instillations.

If we step, take two steps further backward, a local chief executive with a dubious character and background was uncovered. Foreign nationals were arrested with fake government IDs, foreign nationals with birth certificates. So, if we look at the entire expanse of the country, covering the different instruments of national power, and start connecting the dots, there seems now to be a deliberate and calculated move to map out the country by a foreign power.

Tinutukoy ng opisyal ang isang alkalde ng bayan na may kahina-hinalang personalidad, ang mga naglipanang banyaga na may hawak na birth certificates at iba pang mga identification document gaya ng driver license, mga hinihinalang miyembro ng sleeper cell na nagkukubli sa mga POGO.

Nabatid na hindi lamang military camp ang tinitiktikan. “So, it’s not just military camps, police camps, or police outposts, LGUs and all energy infrastructures and communication infrastructures that we have, this includes malls as part of their targeting,” ayon sa military.

“And we only noticed the pattern when we started looking at the bigger picture and started connecting the dots. And these issues which are not yet a threat to national security but may pose a risk to public safety, to peace and order. These are what we are looking into in coordination with other government agencies,” ani Trinidad.

“While there is no direct correlation yet with what happened a few days ago, if we connect the dots, we don’t have to look far, that there seems to be an orchestrated move by a foreign power to gather critical information in the maritime domain and on critical government infrastructures, have political, economic and military applications,” dagdag pa ng opisyal. (JESSE KABEL RUIZ)