A Chinese national arrested near the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Intramuros last week had in his possession a sophisticated surveillance device that harvested more than 5,000 mobile subscriber identities across sensitive government zones in Metro Manila, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
“They picked up 5,000 mobile subscriber identities. They intercepted these from the various offices, even private citizens they passed by,” said NBI spokesperson Ferdinand Lavin at a Senate inquiry on Monday. “Their range is 500 meters to three kilometers, so we can just imagine in highly populated areas especially in the metropolis, they have picked up so much.”
The device, known as an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) catcher, was seized from the vehicle of Tak Hoi Lao, who was arrested by NBI agents on April 29 for suspected violations of the Espionage Law, Data Privacy Act, and the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
Lavin confirmed that the vehicle had traversed areas around the Supreme Court, Department of Justice, Villamor Air Base, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and Comelec, locations considered highly sensitive to national security.
While the contents of the data remain under investigation, the NBI is applying for a court-issued warrant to examine the computer where the intercepted information was stored. “This is subject of our application for confirmation of warrant to examine computer data,” Lavin added.
Despite the arrest, Comelec Chairman George Garcia moved to reassure the public that no part of the poll body’s internal systems had been breached. “We guarantee that our system, our machines which are 94,000 more or less, including the contingency machines, are standalone machines, they are not connected to anything,” Garcia said. “Even if it’s unplugged from electricity, it will work because their batteries can last for three days.”
Garcia disclosed that Comelec had experienced 35 million hacking attempts during the 2022 elections and an additional three million so far this year. “None of these attempts were successful,” he noted.
During the same hearing, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Francis Tolentino criticized what he called Beijing’s growing influence operations in the Philippines. He cited internal reports showing a local public relations firm, InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc., had sent monthly campaign updates to the Chinese embassy. One report from November 2024 promoted the narrative that “without China, the Philippines would still be a backwater country.”
“Inculcate to Filipinos that China and the Chinese people is a big part of our growing economy and our culture. Without them, we will still be a backwater country,” the report stated. “Without (China), many Filipinos will still be dirt poor. Without (China), hundreds of millions of Filipinos will be jobless/unemployed.”
When questioned, InfinitUs co-founder Pin Li denied seeing or approving the reports. Tolentino pushed back, citing travel records indicating that Li and other firm incorporators made frequent trips to and from China between 2024 and 2025. “I cannot tolerate any more lies, especially at this period when we are confronted not just with lies but disinformation,” the senator said. “You’re making this committee part of this disinformation campaign.”
The committee is now eyeing new legislation to address the convergence of espionage, influence operations, and disinformation campaigns. “The Commonwealth Act 616 is not enough. The current cybersecurity laws would not suffice,” said Tolentino. “We still need a more dynamic and proactive legislative framework, but we need the cooperation of all.”
Outside the hearing room, concerns about digital safety and accountability continued to grow. Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, in an interview with ANC, renewed his call for a “stand-alone law” requiring internet platforms to verify the real identities of users.
“If you are, say Facebook or YouTube user, if you would give your real identity, where you live, you would not be so brazen to libel anyone because most of these users use fictitious names,” Carpio said. “All we have to do is bring back that provision or file a stand-alone law on that provision, then Facebook and YouTube will be afraid… they would be sued.”
