The online platforms reportedly being used to recruit former and active Filipino soldiers as military consultants for a United States-based company—but with servers and domains found to be located in China—were already taken down.

But Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said the investigation on the matter is ongoing, including the possibility of a leak of military information from those who may have been hired after being enticed to apply. 

“We have been checking in coordination with other agencies on the source of this account and if there are really personnel who divulge information in terms of the military (AFP),” said Padilla.

“So we are considering this as a national security concern so it’s actually a fusion of efforts among agencies, we are coordinating with various government agencies relating to this,” she added.

Earlier, Manila Bulletin Technology Editor and Information Technology (IT) head Art Samaniego Jr. disclosed that a group has been using a Facebook page which claims affiliation with a United States-based military advertising agency. 

The US agency, however, denied being connected with the group, according to Samaniego.

Samaniego said ther group used WHOIS tools which revealed that the email domain registrar of the group and the servers associated with its domain were “located in China.

Both the Department of National Defense (DND) and the AFP have already ordered a thorough investigation into the matter.

And the latest update on the investigation, according to Padilla, was that the site was already taken down.

“Apparently, the site was already taken down as of this moment. But we have been able to secure screen shots of those who have tried to apply online,” said Padilla.

Based on the initial investigation on the screenshots, she said there are no active military officers who expressed intention to apply based on the background check although there are some who identified themselves as previously working with the military.

“We cannot yet verify if those who identified themselves as soldiers are indeed members of the AFP,” said Padilla.

Padilla, however, said that the background check only involved those whose intentions were captured in screenshots and does not cover those who sent private messages. 

Padilla said the investigation is continuously being done, especially if there are data leaks involved.

“On the part of the AFP, we take this thing seriously so we are continuously checking on this,” said Padilla.