Sreenshot of National Security Agency website
MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino security analyst says there is “nothing new” or spectacular in recent reports that Manila was among the listening posts of the United States in Southeast Asia.
“It’s obvious that we’re a listening post. There’s nothing new there. There’s nothing spectacular about it. It’s a normal policy which we can expect from the US, and even its allies in the region allow themselves to be hosts for the US in the context of an alliance,” said Jose Antonio Custodio, a military historian and security analyst.
Spying on each other, or at the very least trying to find out what one government is doing, is an “accepted practice,” Custodio said.
The Inquirer sought Custodio’s comment on a report by an Australian media network that Manila was among the key “listening posts” of the US National Security Agency in the region.
Australia’s ABC News based its report on the latest leak by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The report said the “US had also set up surveillance facilities in embassies and consulates, including in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Yangon (Rangoon), Manila, Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing.”
Presidential Communications and Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma said that Malacañang would check with the Departments of National Defense and Foreign Affairs if “they have verified such reports.”
For Custodio, the Philippines could even benefit from a US eavesdropping.
“Don’t expect the US to be just listening to us. It is also listening to the Chinese,” he said.
Custodio said intelligence information could be shared by the Philippines and the US on the former’s territorial dispute with China.
Host governments can also listen to the Americans if they want to, Custodio said.
But even if they allow the US to listen in, host governments like the Philippines also have “to be careful,” taking into account their countries’ own sensitive security matters.
“It is mandatory for the Philippine government to ensure that its communications are safe as well,” Custodio said.
Related Stories:
Why spy on allies? Even good friends keep secrets
US weighs ending spying on allied heads of state