PNP probes donations by alleged Chinese spies
Credit to Author: Emmanuel Tupas| Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0800
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has started its probe on the alleged donations of vehicles to two police units by Chinese nationals who were arrested for espionage, the head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said yesterday.
CIDG director Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said an investigation is underway on the circumstances surrounding the donations, which was reported by Reuters, including how it ended up with police.
“I believe that the chief PNP had already ordered the inquiry on that matter to know the root and the circumstances of the donation,” Torre said at the Dapo Restaurant news forum in Quezon City, referring to Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil.
Torre stayed at the news forum for about 45 minutes and left for a meeting ordered by Marbil at Camp Crame.
It is unclear if the issue of the donations by supposed Chinese spies was among the topics discussed.
In its news article, Reuters said the Chinese nationals accused by the Philippine government of espionage were leaders of civic groups that have links with the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign influence network.
Reuters identified the four as Wang Yongi, Wu Junren, Cai Shaohuang and Chen Haitao, who were arrested by the authorities last month.
One event occurred in Manila wherein three of the Chinese nationals donated 10 motorbikes to the city’s police force.
The same month, the other Chinese national gave 10 patrol vehicles to the Tarlac police and the city government.
Torre said the PNP has guidelines for accepting donations from other countries and non-government organizations.
For donations from other nations, Torre said the PNP has a foreign liaison division which gets direction from the Department of Foreign Affairs. The donation is then coursed through the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
For the specific cases in Manila and Tarlac, Torre said a review is being undertaken, adding it is possible the vehicles were given to the local government units, which then turned the assets over to their respective police units.
Asked if there is a need to investigate the civic organizations to which the spies are supposedly affiliated, Torre said the PNP is regularly evaluating its allied groups.