Chinese with spying device nabbed near Comelec

UNDER SURVEILLANCE Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation secure Tak Hoi Lao, 48, who is caught allegedly carrying a phone eavesdropping device in Intramuros, Manila, on Tuesday. —Marianne Bermudez

MANILA, Philippines — A Chinese national was arrested on Tuesday after being caught allegedly carrying a telephone eavesdropping device near the Commission on Elections (Comelec) headquarters in Intramuros, Manila.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said the Chinese male had an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) catcher, a device for intercepting mobile phone traffic, according to the bureau’s spokesperson, Ferdinand Lavin.

The man was identified as Tak Hoi Lao, based on his passport that was issued by the Chinese special administrative region of Macau.

READ: Tolentino: China meddling in polls boosted with arrest of Chinese nat’l

“He has been the subject of a surveillance operation. We were alarmed because he went to such a facility,” Lavin said in Filipino, adding that the confiscated device was being subjected to forensic examination.

READ: China arrests 3 Filipinos for alleged spying

Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia doubted whether the arrested Chinese had obtained any sensitive information from the poll body.

“We don’t have any election data in our main [office], so there is nothing to be concerned about,” Garcia told reporters. “We ran the test, nothing was compromised on any of our systems.”

Still, the incident should be a cause for alarm, according to Danilo Arao, convenor of the poll watchdog Kontra Daya.

“The Comelec should be concerned as to why someone got arrested having such devices,” Arao told INQUIRER.net in a text message. “There is reason to be alarmed given the accusations of Chinese foreign interference.”

The arrest came following allegations made by Sen. Francis Tolentino and National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya of a China-funded operation to influence the May midterm polls and shape public opinion through a social media “troll farm.”

The Chinese Embassy in Manila denied the ”heinous accusations,” accusing certain Filipino politicians of playing the “China card” to boost their election chances.

In a statement praising the NBI for the arrest, Tolentino said it only bolstered the exposé he made in a Senate hearing last week.

“The arrest is the product of tons of intelligence work; thus, I laud the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for its timely action to thwart this insidious plan to advance Beijing’s agenda while undermining our electoral process,” Tolentino said. —With a report from Tina Santos