(UPDATE) THE government is “actively monitoring” the presence of Chinese “sleeper agents” and members of the People’s Liberation Army in the country, Malacañang said Friday. Palace Press Officer Claire Castro issued the statement after Sen. Panfilo Lacson called on concerned government agencies to continue hot pursuit operations against Chinese spies operating in the country. Castro said during a press conference the National Security Council was in close coordination with law enforcement agencies and intelligence units to address the issue of espionage. “We cannot go into specifics for security reasons, but we can assure the public that our security forces are actively monitoring and addressing these threats,” Castro said. She said the government “does not take espionage lightly, and we act swiftly when credible intelligence is verified.” Recent operations have led to arrest of suspected foreign agents, Castro said. Lacson said Chinese citizens have been arrested on suspicion of spying on Malacañang, Palawan province, Makati City, Dumaguete City, near the military general headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City and the Commission on Elections office in Manila. During the first hearing of the Senate Committee on National Defense on proposed amendments to the country’s anti-espionage law, Lacson said espionage networks “must be dismantled or at least decimated to a large degree because agents come and go.” Ferdinand Lavin, deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation, told the hearing the bureau has arrested 19 foreigners engaged in suspected espionage in at least six operations. Thirteen of them were Chinese, one a Cambodian and five were Filipinos who served as guides, drivers or aides. Castro also allayed concerns over reports that a Filipino-Chinese businessman had joined the Philippine Coast Guard’s Auxiliary (PCGA) unit, saying he had no access to maritime operations. In another Senate hearing, PCG Capt. Xerxes Fernandez confirmed that at least 36 Chinese had been delisted under the previous administration, while an alleged Filipino-Chinese businessman identified as Joseph Sy was recently removed after rising to the honorary rank of commodore. Fernandez said the PCGA, established as a socio-civic volunteer group, had admitted foreign nationals because no major security threats were perceived at the time. He said the foreign PCGA members slipped past through the vetting process because “they hold documents that can pass off as legal documents.” “But right now, we see that there’s creeping intrusion into our security environment or security infrastructure. That’s why the Philippine Coast Guard is now stepping up its vetting process in accepting Philippine Coast Guard auxiliary members,” Fernandez said. Sy, 60, whose real name is Chen Zhong Zhen, was arrested by immigration agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport shortly after arriving from Hong Kong on Aug. 21. The Bureau of Immigration said Sy was carrying several identification cards showing he was a Filipino, but fingerprint matching showed he was a Chinese citizen who held a long-term visa and an Alien Certificate of Registration ID card. During Friday’s briefing, Castro also rejected China’s accusation that the Philippines was a “troublemaker” in the South China Sea. The Chinese Ministry of Defense made the accusation after the Philippines launched a joint military exercise with Australia at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija. “We’re going to stop China from making its own narrative,” Castro said. “But they cannot also stop us from fighting for our rights based on laws, Unclos (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), [the] arbitral ruling, and our being [an] independent country,” she added. As part of Exercise Amphibious Land Operation 2025, Philippine troops employed a self-propelled ATMOS 155-mm battery, while the Australian military demonstrated its M777A2 155-mm howitzers, light armored vehicle, Javelin anti-tank missile launchers, MK47 grenade launchers, M2 QCB machine guns, Blazer 2 sniper rifles, AW50F anti-material rifles and Mag58 general purpose machine guns. More than 3,600 troops from the Philippines, Australia, the United States and Canada are taking part in the exercises that started last Aug. 15. China’s defense ministry earlier warned the Philippines of “consequences” over Manila’s alleged hyping up of incidents, provocations and infringements in the Ayungin Shoal. The Philippines continues to seek defense partnerships with other nations as tensions persist in the West Philippine Sea, where Chinese vessels have repeatedly intruded into Philippine waters, harassed Filipino fishermen and obstructed resupply missions to military outposts. The Marcos administration has strongly asserted the country’s sovereign rights in the area, backed by the 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated China’s expansive claims. Castro also rejected suggestions that the Philippines’ diplomatic stance in the South China Sea showed weakness. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Sen. Erwin Tulfo said the Philippines was “allowing” itself to be bullied in the name of diplomacy and that “diplomacy without deterrence is weakness.” Castro said the Marcos administration remained firm in its rule-based approach. She reiterated the President’s remarks that the Philippines was not waging any war but would not retreat from any fight. “Courage is not proven through fistfights, Being diplomatic does not show weakness,” Castro said.