MICHAEL Yang, an alleged drug lord and presidential economic adviser of former president Rodrigo Duterte will be invited in the next hearing of the Committee on Dangerous Drugs chaired by Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers, in connection with the P3B drug bust in Mexico, Pampanga last year by the NBI and PDEA.
In a series of hearings, Empire 999, the company that owns the warehouse where the drugs were ordered stored, is found to be owned by Chinese nationals who also owned other shell companies together with other personalities who have been previously linked to anomalous activities under the past administration.
In a painstaking investigation, the latest of which was last Wednesday, May 8, Lincoln Ong, the controversial figure in the Pharmally scandal and interpreter of Mr. Michael Yang, was found to be an incorporator of a company with links to other companies including Empire 999.
In a power point presentation by Public Accounts Chairman Joseph “Caraps” Paduano, Michael Yang was linked to Lincol Ong. To find out the connection, Public Order Chairman Dan Fernandez moved that Yang be invited in the next hearing.
It will be remembered that Pharmally cornered billions in favored contracts with the PS DBM then headed by Christopher Lao, to supply medical needs during the pandemic. Without financial capacity, Lincoln Ong revealed that the acquisition of supplies abroad was financed by Michael Yang.
In the latest turn of events, the Ombudsman has indicted another Pharmally executive and close friend of Michael Yang, in the Pharmally case.
In the House investigation, it was further established that most of the incorporators of the different companies are actually Chinese nationals who present fake Philippine documents to make it appear that they are Filipinos. What started as a drug bust turned out to be a national security concern as these personalities and companies acquired real properties all over the country using fictitious documents.
“This matter has now gone from a simple illegal drug smuggling to a national security concern. We need to establish the link between these companies and Michael Yang, the financier of Pharmally. It is not as simple as it seems. These personalities and their interests are so intertwined and intricately woven in an elaborate multi layered company structure that resembles a maze deliberately designed to avoid detection and ultimate liability in case the scheme is discovered,” Barbers said.
“The activities of the other companies have not been unearthed yet but the incorporators have gone into hiding already and have started disposing their assets. There is more than meets the eye. We intend to get to the bottom of this issue in order to find out if indeed the drug bust is just the tip of the iceberg,” Barbers added.
“The connection of alleged drug lord Michael Yang to these drug activities is no surprise. Remember that in the past administration, he was named by a top official of the PNP who was then tasked to investigate illegal drug activities. It was discovered that the one on top of the drug trade was Michael Yang.
In our investigations, more names came out like Aedy Yang and Henry Yang, Elaine Chua, and a lot more Chinese who all pretended to be Filipinos but are actually Chinese nationals. Using fictitious documents and corporations, they went on buying sprees and allegedly bought hundreds and possibly thousands of hectares of agricultural and residential lands in Northern Luzon and started building warehouses. These very suspicious activities have stopped as soon as we started the investigations. So now, they again resorted in hiding these assets by “selling” them to other Chinese nationals. We promise that we will leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom truth of this mess these Chinese nationals created here in our country,” Barbers said.
“I always say that we have no problems with Chinese nationals doing legitimate business in our country. But doing these illegal drug activities is another story. We have extended all invitations to these people and observed due process. They never showed up. Even the law NBI could not locate them. There is a saying that flight is indicative of guilt. If they are really innocent, we urge them to come out and explain their roles in the labyrinth they created,” Barbers said.
