THE Filipina wife of an Chinese national arrested in Makati City weeks ago yesterday denied allegations her husband is a spy.
“There’s only one thing that I can say, Deng is not a spy,” Noemi Deng told a press conference, referring to her 39-year-old husband, Deng Yuanqing.
Deng and two of his alleged Filipino cohorts were arrested on January 17 by operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation on suspicion of espionage. Seized from them were equipment which were allegedly used in casing military camps and other key infrastructures.
Noemi said her husband is engaged in road surveys for a firm that specializes in self-driving vehicles. She said Deng has been in the country for over 10 years now and they have eight-year-old child.
“My husband is innocent,” she said.
Noemi said she has spoken with her husband on the phone twice, one of them occurred last January 19, since his arrest.
“He told me don’t worry because he knows he is innocent,” she said.
Noemi said she was forced to seek help because many days have already passed and her husband remains in detention.
During their conversation, Noemi said, Deng told her that he was hit by one of those who arrested him.
“He said he was hit in the head but he is okay…. I am worried because they might harm him and force him to admit something that is not true,” said Noemi.
Noemi has sought the help of Teresita Ang-See, founding chair of the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order, to secure the freedom of her husband.
Deng’s sister, Wenying, earlier sought assistance of the group in clearing the name of Deng and secure his release.
In a statement on January 24, Ang-See said Wenying said that Deng works as a labor contractor for a driving technology company for a road-testing project in the Philippines, which Ang-See said is “akin to a road-mapping for smart vehicles.”
Quoting Wenying, Ang-see said the equipment found inside Deng’s vehicle were given by two company engineers. She said these are “ordinary commercial road surveying instruments.”
“This is an appeal to relevant authorities to make an impartial investigation. I believe a real spy won’t have his family asking for help for his release,” Ang-see has said.
INTERFERENCE
Senate majority leader Francis Tolentino has filed a measure which seeks to penalize foreign interference following recent incidents of possible spying activities in the country.
Senate Bill No. 2951 or the Counter Foreign Interference Act aims to update the legal framework regulating the conduct of foreign agents in the Philippines, which was passed into law in 1979.
“The increasing concern of the government regarding potential foreign interference in the Philippines’ political and government affairs has prompted a deeper examination of the tactics and objectives employed by some wicked state actors,” Tolentino said in the bill.
“These actors have been infiltrating key areas of the bureaucracy, media, and critical infrastructures, thereby threatening the nation’s national security, political stability, and sovereignty,” he added
Last December, a submersible drone was recovered by fishermen off the waters of Masbate. Police said the drone was made in China.
Tolentino said the proposed measure cites the importance of having penalties on foreign interference “thereby, reinforcing the government’s commitment to protecting democratic processes from external influence.”
Under the bill, a Counter Foreign Interference Council chaired by the executive secretary and will have as its members the national security adviser, and the secretaries of justice, foreign affairs, interior, national defense, information and communications technology, and Anti-Money Laundering Council secretariat.
The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency will be the CFIC secretariat.
Proven owners of “harmful electronic communications” requiring internet service providers (ISP) to block electronic communications “prejudicial to national security and public safety” will be meted with penalties, and will be proven guilty of foreign interference and conspiracy to commit foreign interference will face life imprisonment and will be fined P5 million to P10 million.
Persons aiding or protecting persons committing foreign interference may face 12 years imprisonment and a fine of P2 million to P5 million.
The bill also allows the surveillance of suspects and interception of recording of communications secretly, upon the written order of the court.
Acts committed under the bill will be considered an unlawful activity hence giving the AMLC the authority to conduct financial investigation, freezing of accounts, and forfeiture of assets. – With Raymond Africa