Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon: A normal thing. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—What’s there to probe?
The chair of the House committee on national defense and security, Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, has thumbed down calls to investigate the allegations of spying by the United States on the Philippines.
“I don’t think there is any need for a probe. What for? We are an open book anyway. All our secrets, including those concerning national security, are openly discussed in Congress, the media and coffee shops,” Biazon said.
He said he could not think of anything that the US government could use against the Philippines by eavesdropping on the country’s most powerful individuals.
He said the US may pick up information regarding other countries but not against the Philippines.
Biazon, a retired general and former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said the lawmakers calling for a House investigation should not be worried about US National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden’s revelation that the Philippines was among the Asian countries used by the US as listening posts.
“The US has been doing its spying activities for a long time. That is the purpose of its embassies and other listening posts in the world. That is what our embassies do in other countries, to get information. So I don’t think there is any harm in that,” he said.—Gil C. Cabacungan
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