MANILA, Philippines — The Palace will wait for the recommendation of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and the Department of National Defense regarding the r;ecent issues surrounding Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo yesterday said the Palace has yet to look into reports that Google has blocked Huawei’s future access to android updates – both apps and regular security updates.
“I suppose the Department of National Defense as well as the national security adviser are studying that matter. And the President will be waiting for whatever recommendation they have on that,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has placed Huawei on the entity list, limiting the business US brands could do with Huawei.
Google has been forced to restrict the company’s access to the Google Play Store, which means that in the future users won’t be able to gain access to popular titles or to speedy security updates to the Android OS.
Huawei will no longer be able to offer access to crucial Google apps, reports said.
The Philippine National Police (PNP), for its part, said there is no evidence that would suggest China’s Huawei is involved in spying activities.
PNP spokesman Col. Bernard Banac said their investigation on reports of Huawei’s spying activities has so far yielded negative results.
“We haven’t seen evidence showing or proving spying by Huawei,” he told reporters yesterday.
PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde earlier tasked the police Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) to probe reports that Beijing is using Huawei to spy on other countries.
Banac also said there is no proof that government websites had been hacked using Huawei products. – Emmanuel Tupas