Envoy, AFP deny ‘intel’ of China plan to sabotage 2016 PH polls

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Thursday denied the claim of a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official that it had received military intelligence reports that China might sabotage next year’s presidential elections.

“This is the first time that the AFP received information on the matter and after checking with our concerned staff offices, we found out there is no report in our files to substantiate this,” AFP spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla said.

He added that they could not comment on a report “they know nothing about.”

A military source, meanwhile, said they are still checking where the report came from.

The officer said the Comelec commissioner’s military source could be an “unofficial” one.

“Baka humingi lang ng advice. Comelec was very prudent about it at bilib kami kasi tama at maganda ang ginawa nila (They might have just sought an advice. What Comelec did was laudable). With this, you can be sure they are taking the necessary steps to ensure the integrity of our electoral process. That’s what counts,” the source said.

In a public hearing at the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Comelec Commissioner Christian Robert Lim said that a fellow elections official received a classified military report that China might sabotage next year’s elections because the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines were made in China.

READ: Comelec exec fears sabotage: China ‘biggest threat’ in 2016 polls

Because of this, Lim said they made sure that the vote-counting machines are made in Taiwan and not in China.

China’s embassy in the Philippines denied the allegations.

“The so-called ‘attempt by China’ to ‘sabotage’ the 2016 elections is totally groundless and a sheer fabrication,” the embassy spokesman, spokesperson Li Lingxao, said in a statement.

“China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference into other countries’ internal affairs, he said.

China and Philippines have overlapping claims over the resource-rich South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). At present, China is doing reclamation activities in nine reefs in the Spratlys.

The Philippines, meanwhile, has filed a protest over China’s sweeping claims at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. IDL