AFP: No official report yet on 3 arrested Filipino ‘spies’ in China

RIZAL, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has not yet received an official report that Filipinos were arrested in Beijing for suspected espionage, according to public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad.

Trinidad also said that they have yet to verify these reports, which were first published in Chinese state-run news outlets last April 3.

“On the part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, we have not received any official reports from relative authorities. So we defer those questions to the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs),” Trinidad said in a press conference on Tuesday.

“Again, we have yet to validate those reports. And we need formal and official reports for the AFP to respond,” he added.

In a post on X, the Global Times reported, “China’s state security authorities have uncovered a case of Filipino espionage and apprehended three Filipino nationals suspected of spying in the country.”

Citing the investigation results, the report claimed that “Philippine intelligence agencies have long been focused on gathering information about China’s military deployments.”

Based on reports, the suspected spies were identified as David Servañez, Albert Endencia, and Nathalie Plizardo.  Servañez was arrested in October 2024, Endencia was collared in January this year, and Plizardo in February.

National Security Council assistant director-general and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya questioned these reports, saying that the Philippines was alarmed over allegations that the arrested Filipinos were spying for the Philippine intelligence agency.

“They are ordinary Filipino citizens with no military training who merely went to China at the invitation of the Chinese government to study,” Malaya said.

He added that the Chinese government itself screened the arrested Filipinos before granting them scholarships.