Online campaign seeks release of 3 Pinoys China tagged as spies
MANILA, Philippines — The Akbayan party list on Wednesday launched an online petition for the immediate release of the three Filipinos detained by the Chinese government for alleged espionage.
As it started a signature campaign on change.org, a website that provides a platform for various advocacies, Akbayan accused Beijing of holding the Filipinos for “hostage diplomacy.”
The group hoped to maintain public attention to the case of David Servañez, Albert Endencia, and Nathalie Plizardo. The three Palawan residents were former scholars under a “sisterhood” agreement between their local government and China’s southern province of Hainan.
READ: China arrests 3 Filipinos for alleged spying
The Akbayan petition had 179 signatories as of 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to the petition: “This arrest is a clear retaliation for the Philippine government’s arrest of Chinese nationals for espionage activities, such as the five [who were accused of] monitoring the activities of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy in Palawan.”
Detaining the three Palawan residents is also a form of “hostage diplomacy” that targets Filipinos in China as “bargaining chips’’ in Beijing’s maritime dispute with Manila over the West Philippine Sea, it added.
In a statement, Akbayan president Rafaela David said, “China’s cruelty will only unify and embolden Filipinos to stand against [its] aggression.”
“Unlike the government of China, the Filipino people will not resort to hoodlum- and gangster-like tactics,” she said, but will “utilize all creative, peaceful, legal, and diplomatic means” to get the three detainees home.
