The families of the three Palaweños arrested in China on suspicion of espionage have been informed by the foreign affairs department that their trial will soon begin.
Provincial Information Officer Atty. Christian Jay Cojamco said the families of David Servañez, Albert Endencia, and Nathalie Plizardo informed the provincial government that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has confirmed to them that “a trial is already [being] pursued against doon sa ating mga estudyante and they were already given lawyers to defend them.”
“The confirmation of trial was actually given before the news from the China Daily came out,” he said.
The three Palaweños were arrested by state security authorities in China on separate occasions between October 2024 and February 2025. However, the state-owned media outfit only reported their arrests on April 3.
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Servañez traveled to China as a factory worker, Plizardo as a teacher, and Endencia was intercepted in February this year while on his way to a job interview at a pharmaceutical company.
All three were former scholars of the provincial government at Hainan Normal University under a sisterhood agreement the province signed with Hainan, a province off the southern coast of China.
Sources claimed that it was Servañez who recruited them and who has links to Richie Herrera, the Philippine intelligence personnel who supposedly trained them to engage in espionage activities.
Cojamco also said the families of the three have asked the DFA for permission to travel to China and visit their relatives.
“Once na magbigay ng go signal ang DFA, meaning nag-oo na yung China, ang provincial government yung magpo-provide financial assistance para makapunta sila sa China kaagad,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cojamco explained that the scholarship program granted through a sisterhood agreement between the provinces of Palawan and Hainan is already in its final stage. The last batch, consisting of 16 scholars, went to China in 2022 and are now in their senior year.
He also said some of the scholars have expressed worries and fears that they might suffer the same fate, and already want to go home.
“Actually, may lumabas nang balita na may mga fillers na gusto nang umuwi ng iba. Inaasikaso na natin yung kanilang pag-uwi. We are already preparing the documents needed,” he said.
