Spies, secrets, and the Senate

A recent documentary of an alleged Chinese spy in Thailand claims he had a list of other spies with one of them being Guo Hua Ping, known to most Filipinos as ex-mayor Alice Guo. Our Senate started with the theory that Alice Guo was a Chinese spy. When that did not gain traction, they shifted the narrative and claimed Alice was a member of the POGO criminal network. We do not know what is true, for now. If no court finds Alice and her alleged cohorts as guilty, either as Chinese spies or gambling lords, this waste of time and taxpayers' money is just that, a waste.

Spies, however, have flourished in various state-to-state relations through the centuries, and an accepted role of diplomats is to gather data and intelligence in their host nation for reporting to their own country. But there have also been more covert and adventurous spies in both world and Philippine history. We know, of course, of Mata Hari, a Dutch courtesan convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I and executed in France by firing squad. There are, of course, many more lesser-known spies throughout history, and even in the Philippines spies have been at work in various points of time.

When the Spanish forces were defending the capital from the attacks of Chinese pirate Li-Ma-Hong, two expeditions with 40 men were sent by land to Pangasinan, all to spy on the plans of and to persuade the natives of the deception they were living under. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in convincing the natives as they claimed to be content with their new ruler (Li-Ma-Hong).

A few other examples of Filipino spies were more successful in their role. One was Patrocinio Gamboa, considered as the “heroine of Jaro” as she was from Jaro, Iloilo. She was active in the revolution against Spain, being one of the intelligence assets of the movement. Her gender and her belonging to a prominent family allowed her to freely move around. She raised funds and assisted as a nurse treating the wounded, and her greatest role was taking the Philippine flag to the inauguration of the revolutionary government in the Visayas, hiding the flag under her garments and allowing it to be flown during the ceremonies.

Another spy, again a woman, was Josefina Guerrero. During the peak of World War II, she was diagnosed with leprosy and her husband left her and took their two-year-old daughter. Feeling she had nothing to lose, Josefina collaborated with the Americans, thinking she would soon die anyway. She bravely infiltrated Japanese camps, gathering intelligence and revealing the location of a secret tunnel to American troops. Her illness became an asset as she was not thoroughly searched by Japanese soldiers, allowing her to work effectively as a courier. She was honored with the Medal of Freedom for her bravery in saving many American soldiers after the war and later moved to Louisiana for treatment.

A third spy in Philippine history was Magdalena Leones, also a guerilla during World War II, who worked as an intelligence officer for the Americans. She was arrested by Japanese soldiers three times, transporting vital supplies and data. She successfully took down Japanese planes in Tuguegarao and one of her contributions to the war was gathering radio parts which allowed guerillas to communicate with General MacArthur and eventually made the Leyte landings possible. She was later awarded the Silver Star, making her the only Asian to receive it.

Still, as what we are seeing now, the Philippines still has a long way to go to definitively identify when someone is a spy. Our own spies in history were able to freely move among the enemies undetected. But whether Alice Guo, et al, are really, truly Chinese spies, only time will tell.