FIVE Chinese realty traders including suspected drug lord Willie Ong are facing arrest for their continuing snub of the ongoing House anti-drugs panel investigations to shed light on their alleged participation in the shipment of 530 kilos of shabu worth P3.6 billion in the former’s warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga in September last year.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, on Wednesday said his panel had been very patient with all the invited resource persons and witnesses in the probe against Ong and his associates.
“This committee has been very patient with you but we have certain limitations. Those who were issued subpoenas yet still failed to attend are now being cited in contempt. The necessary warrants will be issued for their arrests in accordance with the Rules of the House,” he said.
“Others not yet cited in contempt are given this last warning. If in the next hearing you will still be absent, we have no choice but to cite you in contempt,” he added.
Barbers explained that under the Philippine Constitution, Congress has the power to investigate in aid of legislation. And to be able to exercise such power, Congress inherently possesses the power to compel attendance of witnesses and resource persons.
“This power carries with it the power of citing any of these persons in contempt should they fail to honor the invitations,” he said.
Ong, with a Chinese name of Cai Qimeng, is co-owner of the Empire 999 Realty Corporation. His associates who are also facing arrest were identified as Aedy T. Yang, Elaine Chua, Michelle S. Sy and Jack T. Yang.
Based on official records submitted to the House anti-drugs panel by the Land Registration Authority (LRA), the Empire 999 under Ong’s stewardship, has managed to obtain, over the years, at least 320 titled prime lots worth several billions of pesos in Central Luzon, Metro Manila and other parts of the country.
The Office of the Solicitor General and the LRA are now working in collaboration with other concerned government agencies to have Ong’s irregular or anomalous land acquisitions be forfeited in favor of the government.
“Napaka hiwaga ng kumpanya na ito ni Willie Ong. Walang bank records o money trail sa kanilang mga transaksyon. Pati ang pagtatayo ng kanilang mga buildings at mga warehouses ay di ma-trace kung saan galing ang ginamit na pera. Malamang laundered money at cash basis ang ginawa nila sa kanilang mga transaksyon,” Barbers said.
The lawmaker from Mindanao said earlier probe conducted by the House anti-drugs panel, including those carried out by the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, Philippine Statistics Authority, Department of Foreign Affairs, among others, indicate that Ong and his associates posed as Filipinos in dealing with various local and national government agencies.
Fake documents
“The Chinese incorporators of Empire 999 were able to secure fake documents like birth certificates and passports which they used to illegally buy 320 titled prime lands in various parts of Central Luzon, particularly in Pampanga, in Metro Manila, and other parts of the country,” Barbers said.
“They were also found to have close ties with certain local government officials who facilitated the transactions and granted the permits they needed to construct buildings, warehouses, and other facilities in their illegally acquired lands,” he added.
From what seemed to be a limited but serious illegal drug shipment, Barbers said the country is now faced with “Chinese personalities posing as Filipinos, bribing their way towards controlling our economy, grabbing our lands, committing various crimes such as money laundering and drug trafficking, controlling our politicians, and sowing disunity among the populace.”
“I would like to make it clear that I’m not espousing Sinophobia here. But to say that this (creeping Chinese invasion) has become a national security concern is an understatement,” he said.
Ong, whose is carrying both bogus Filipino and legit Chinese passports, was found by the Philippine Statistics Authority to have forged his “late registration” scheme to obtain a birth certificate and used it in furtherance of his criminal activities.
For its part, the Department of Foreign Affairs is currently facilitating the cancellation of Ong’s Filipino passport for “misdeclaration and false statements, and lying under oath” to obtain said travel document.
