Officials from different government agencies claimed on Saturday that the four individuals who were found to have worked with Chinese informants were driven by lack of pay.

Concerns regarding the validity of the alleged espionage of four individuals that Philippine Navy Inspector General Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said were from the Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard were addressed during a forum with media in Quezon City.

Aside from confirming that the issue was not merely an attempt to destroy the image of the Chinese government, Trinidad mentioned that the suspects were generously paid in exchange for the information that they provided.

"Somebody would contact them asking for a report, babasahin ang report, and then they would say that ‘We like this’ and then afterwards…ang mga susunod diyan may direction na kung anong dapat isusulat or i-rereport nila,” explained Trinidad.

Retired Navy Admiral Rommel Jude Ong asserted that the suspects were targeted not merely off the fact that they knew about national military tactics but because their pay grade was quite low.

"They are not paid enough kasi may salary grade ang gobyerno hanggang dun lang talaga yun. So in this case ang approach is financial, but again for recruitment purposes, kung ire-recruit kita, ipo-profile muna kita, then depende sa level of access mo sa information," he stated.

Based on varying reports, an officer from the Navy earns a monthly salary of anywhere between P40,000 to P125,000 a month depending on their ranking while members of the Armed Forces Philippines have an entry-level salary of roughly P20,000.