PH local gov’ts reviewing sisterhood pacts with China – Malaya

Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya of of the National Security Council. Arnel Tacson, INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Some local government units (LGUs) are reviewing their sisterhood agreements with Beijing following the arrest of three Filipinos suspected of espionage in China, an official of the National Security Council (NSC) said Thursday.

“My information is that the local government units (LGUs) are now having second thoughts; they are reviewing their sisterhood agreements with China,” Jonathan Malaya, assistant director general and NSC spokesperson, told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Navy’s maritime security forum in Manila.

‘Preposterous’

China has arrested David Servañez, Nathalie Plizardo and Albert Endencia—all from Palawan province—for alleged spying, including information gathering on military deployments.

The arrests, according to Malaya, would have an effect on the LGUs’ sisterhood agreements with China.

In 2017, Palawan established sisterhood ties with China’s southernmost province of Hainan.

The agreement includes a scholarship program for Palawan residents at Hainan Normal University from 2018 to 2022.

According to Malaya, China’s claim that the three Filipinos made a confession as spies was “preposterous.”

“Whoever we asked in Palawan who knew those three said they can never be spies,” he said.

READ: Filipinos nabbed in China ordinary citizens with no military training

Malaya earlier said the three Filipinos were ordinary citizens who had no military training.

He said the government, through the migrant workers and foreign affairs departments, had extended legal assistance to the three arrested Filipinos and financial assistance to the families.