NSC to validate Chinese ‘spy’ claim implicating Alice Guo to espionage

Explosive information from a video documentary released by Al Jazeera, which featured a Chinese ‘spy’ tagging dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo in her involvement in a Chinese ‘espionage’, is yet to be validated said by the National Security Council official Jonathan Malay on Sept. 28.

She Zhijiang, who was recruited as a Chinese spy in the Philippines in 2016, gave Al Jazeera the dossier where it showed a woman named Guo Hua Ping, born in Fujian, China, which is near to a Chinese Communist Party office.

The NSC Assistant Director General assured that the Philippines’ counter intelligence efforts are not exclusive to the People’s Republic of China’s Ministry of State Security (PRC-MSS) spies, but also to all foreign spies illegally working in the Philippines.

"Regarding the documentary on self-confessed MSS agent She Zhijiang, we have yet to validate the information mentioned considering that the person is not entirely credible being a wanted criminal and leader of an international crime syndicate,” Malaya said in an ABS-CBN interview on Sept. 28.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said on the same day that the AFP are working to get all the necessary information regarding foreign spies operating in the country.

"In the case of national security concerns, rest assured that the AFP will be performing our mandate, and of course, supporting in the investigation on how the AFP can be in aid of this,” Padilla added on the threat of foreign spies in the Philippines.

Davao Oriental 2nd District Rep. Cheeno Almario presented the documentary during the quad committee hearing where Guo was seen to be in an unusual, agitated behavior on Sept. 27.

Interpolations of Almario made Guo emotional—evident in the tone of her voice—to which PBA party-list Rep. Margarita Nograles noticed it and told her to “relax”.

Nograles presented her claim that these Chinese spies follow an eight-step ‘order’, which are allegedly similar to the case of She and Guo.

The first step begins in choosing a country, then making residents into ‘dummies’, until the last step which involves operating illegal activities.

“They took advantage of our country, our laws, our citizens, our resources, Mr. Chair. Nakakatakot  dahil hindi ito one sided. Lahat  ng mga steps na ‘to mangyayari lang at pupunta sa next step kung pinayagan ‘to ng gobyerno,” Nograles said on the entry of Chinese spies to the country.

The Chinese spy featured in the same documentary is currently detained in Thailand due to his business operations having been linked with human trafficking, extortion, and cyber scams.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a qualified human trafficking case on Sept. 18 against Guo and several others involved.

However, just recently on Sept. 28, Guo pleads not guilty to the charges of qualified human trafficking.

Other more cases filed against her are graft and corruption charges before Valenzuela Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 282, a money laundering complaint before the DOJ, and a quo warranto case before a Manila court after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) found out Alice Guo matched the fingerprints of Guo Hua Ping.