China detains 3 Philippine nationals on suspicion of spying

State media publishes images of the trio being questioned by the police after Manila detained a number of alleged Chinese spies

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State media published pictures of the three alleged spies. Photo: CCTV

Published: 9:00am, 4 Apr 2025

China said on Thursday that it had detained three Philippine nationals on suspicion of spying a week after five Chinese people were arrested by Manila on espionage charges.

It is unusual for China to give details of countries suspected of spying, but on Thursday state news broadcaster CCTV published images of the three being questioned by police along with their names.

State news agency Xinhua identified the three as David Servañez, Albert Endencia and Nathalie Plizardo, and said they had been recruited by a spy master named Richie Herrera – whose whereabouts are not known.

It follows a series of arrests of alleged Chinese spies in the Philippines. Last week the authorities said they had arrested five Chinese nationals, one Cambodian and a Filipino man on suspicion of spying on American and Philippine warships at the Subic Bay naval base.

The authorities said the suspects had pretended to be fishermen transporting bait while flying hi-tech drones to monitor the vessels.

In January, five people were arrested on suspicion of posing as Taiwanese tourists to spy on the Philippine coastguard and navy on the island of Palawan.

That same month, Philippine security forces had also arrested a Chinese national and two Filipino associates for allegedly mapping more than 120 key sites on Luzon, including ports and military bases.