Navy spox: 3 Filipino spies were fresh grads looking for jobs

Three Filipinos employed in the Armed Forces of the Philippines were recruited by foreign handlers through LinkedIn while they were fresh graduates seeking employment. Philippine Navy spokesperson Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad revealed this during a Senate hearing on March 9, 2026, explaining that the individuals were targeted via professional networking platforms where they had posted their resumes. The foreign recruiters approached them with offers for positions as "consultants" or "columnists," then assessed their qualifications before initiating what Trinidad described as a "collection effort." The three individuals involved—Lawrence, Allison, and Danny—were all recent graduates at the time of recruitment, while a fourth individual, Charles (a Philippine Navy officer), declined the recruitment offer.

The timeline shows that in 2022, Lawrence applied for a researcher role at the Department of Defense and interacted with a foreign national identified as "Scott Chan." Danny, who had connections to the Philippine Coast Guard, communicated with individuals named "Anthony and Peter," with Peter visiting the Philippines in 2024. While working for the AFP, the three individuals had access to classified and confidential materials as "first-level entry researchers," though not secret or top-secret information. Their methods included photographing unattended documents and forwarding emails to their foreign handlers.

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National Security Adviser Eduardo Año warned government employees to be cautious of suspicious job offers that could recruit them as spies. The alleged espionage activities were discovered through the military's Insider Threat Program, a newly developed initiative instituted in 2024. The three individuals received four- to six-digit compensation in Philippine pesos for the information they provided, along with large bonuses paid through digital money transfers.

All three individuals are now under the control of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and have been cooperative with authorities. The Philippine government has moved to charge the three Filipinos for espionage tied to China. National Security Council officials stated that while the individuals had access to various classified data including internal reports, tactical information, and operational plans from the Department of National Defense, Philippine Navy, and Philippine Coast Guard, no significant information was compromised and the leaked data does not pose a serious threat to national security.