Statement of Senate Majority Leader Francis 'Tol' Tolentino on the arrest of a Chinese national caught with spy equipment near Comelec

The arrest of a Chinese national caught with an IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) Catcher inside his vehicle near the Commission on Elections (Comelec) further bolsters what we exposed in our Senate inquiry last week that China is actively operating to interfere in the coming elections.

The arrest is the product of tons of intelligence work, thus I laud the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for its timely action to thwart this insidious plan to advance Beijing's agenda while undermining our electoral process.

As the principal author of Senate Bill 2951, the proposed Counter Foreign Interference Act, I commit to push for stricter guidelines and higher penalties to bring up to par to the digital era our antiquated anti-espionage laws that date back to the Commonwealth period.

With the government, intelligence community and people working together, any sinister attempt to compromise the integrity of our government institutions and democratic process is doomed to fail.