Marcos orders probe of embassy 'wiretap'

(UPDATE) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. over the weekend said he has ordered the investigation on the alleged wiretapping of a ranking Armed Forces of the Philippines official by the Chinese Embassy in Manila.

“We are looking into it because the fact of the matter is, there have been mentions of a tape that confirms that there was this agreement,” Marcos said after attending a ceremony to mark an alliance between his Partido Federal ng Pilipinas and the Nationalist People’s Coalition in Makati City.

The President’s directive came after claims made last week by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice that foreign diplomats may have violated the Anti-Wire Tapping Act and diplomatic protocols.

On May 7, the Chinese Embassy in Manila released a recording and transcript of an unverified phone call between a Chinese diplomat and Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, who was then commander of the military’s Western Command, on the so-called new model arrangement on the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.

The government had since repeatedly insisted no such agreement was reached and that only the Chief Executive can make decisions in relation to the territorial row, but has nonetheless replaced Carlos with Rear Adm. Alfonso Torres Jr. as Wescom chief.

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“There have been so many departments and agencies that have been victimized, and I think we are all very aware of the risks [to] cybersecurity. We are very conscious of that,” Marcos said.

Until the probe is concluded, he said they will not draw any conclusions until he personally hears the audio from the supposed wiretapped conversation.

“It’s in the possession of the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese government. So, until they release it, it’s harder to believe and to accept that there was an agreement,” the President said.

Malacañang has tasked the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Department of Science and Technology to closely work together to beef up the country’s cybersecurity and make it more robust and secure.

Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Tolentino said he has sent a “polite invitation” to Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian and the embassy’s consul general to attend a Senate hearing on the wiretapping incident on May 22.

Although they are not required to attend, it would be better if Chinese Embassy officials go to the Senate hearing to prove that they are not hiding anything, the senator said.

In a radio interview, he said the National Bureau of Investigation had been tasked to determine the authenticity of the supposed taped conversation.

Tolentino said the Defense Committee, led by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, will decide how to proceed with the probe if embassy officials opt not to attend the hearing.

Also, over the weekend, at least two senators warned that the Philippines may be forced to bring China to international court if it carries out its new policy to detain supposed “trespassers” in the South China Sea.

Sens. Risa Hontiveros and Tolentino slammed China’s new regulation because it covers areas that overlap with the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

China has empowered its coast guard to detain foreigners “illegally” sailing into parts of the SCS it claims as part of its territory, according to media reports. The policy takes effect in June 2024.

“Should Beijing dare push through with this illegitimate regulation, the Philippines’ hand may be forced to sue them again in The Hague tribunal,” Hontiveros said.

“This could be subject for another case [against China]. This time before Itlos (International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea),” Tolentino said in a radio interview.

The Itlos is an independent judicial body established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Philippines could also file a case before the International Court of Justice, Tolentino added.

Hontiveros said China’s new policy to detain “trespassers” in the South China Sea only affirms its emerging reputation as a rogue nation.

The new regulation, which was reported by the Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post, was issued days after Atin Ito (This is Ours), a fleet of civilian boats, sailed into the Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal to deliver fuel and food to Filipino fishermen there.

Bajo de Masinloc is within the West Philippine Sea, although Beijing also claims ownership of the shoal and seized it in 2012.

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