Mamamayang Liberal Representative Leila de Lima recently renewed her call for the passage of a new law against foreign espionage operations in the country, following the exposure of alleged Beijing-directed Filipino spies.
De Lima filed House Bill No. 1844, or the proposed “Anti-Espionage Act,” in July 2025 to amend the Revised Penal Code provision on spies by imposing higher penalties. She said that the approval of the bill was long overdue, noting that the presence of spies in the country is “no longer a surprise.”
The National Security Council (NSC) disclosed last week that three Filipino civilians were taken into custody last year, and admitted passing sensitive information concerning national security matters to foreign contacts suspected to be working for Chinese intelligence.
The two men and a woman were an analyst at the Department of National Defense, a researcher in the Philippine Navy, and one had close ties to a Philippine Coast Guard officer.
They passed on information that included the resupply and rotation of troops manning the BRP Sierra Madre, the beached vessel turned into a military outpost on Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, that has been an irritating Filipino presence for the Chinese in the West Philippine Sea.
De Lima said the country’s security agencies must be given sufficient resources to conduct a nationwide crackdown on spies. She called on Filipinos to stand “united in our fight to end all forms of espionage and protect our national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests.”
Under the Revised Penal Code, espionage is punished with six months to a maximum of six years in prison. In De Lima’s proposal, the penalty will be imprisonment of 12 to 20 years, plus a fine of at least P20 million but not more than P30 million.
In this new world order where wars and armed conflict, even among nations, have been breaking out left and right, countries have to protect themselves against espionage and other threats that could affect our ability to defend our country from any kind of attack, which is now within the realm of possibility. Aside from establishing better counterespionage protocols, strategies, and tactics, the penalties for those who might consider betraying their country have to be made heavy enough, in order to deter such acts. This is an initiative that our government has to urgently support and implement in order to bolster our national security that up to now is seen by our potential enemies, external and internal, as among the weakest in the region.*
