THE House of Representatives Quad Committee, in a move to safeguard national security and prevent foreign exploitation, has handed over critical documents to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) on Monday. The panel is calling for legal action against Chinese nationals accused of using fraudulent Filipino citizenship to illegally acquire land and operate businesses in the Philippines, particularly in the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) industry.
The Quad Committee, composed of representatives from the House Committees on Justice, Good Government and Public Accountability, National Security, and Public Order and Safety, has been investigating allegations of POGO-related crimes, including money laundering, human trafficking, and corruption.
The committee believes that the fraudulent acquisition of citizenship by Chinese nationals poses a significant threat to national security and undermines the integrity of Philippine laws. The panel hopes that the OSG will initiate forfeiture proceedings to recover illegally acquired assets and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.
The chairpersons of the House Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights and Public Accounts — Reps. Robert Ace Barbers, Dan Fernandez, Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr., and Joseph Stephen Paduano — urged the OSG to expedite its review and initiate civil forfeiture proceedings, in coordination with other government agencies.
Central to this case is Aedy Tai Yang, a Chinese national suspected of falsifying documents to obtain Filipino citizenship, which he allegedly used to skirt foreign ownership laws, enabling him to acquire land and set up businesses illegally.
Among the submitted documents are Yang’s Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-issued birth certificate from 2004, despite his claim of being born in 1983. Records from the Municipal Civil Registry of San Antonio, Nueva Ecija, indicate that his birth documents were destroyed in a fire, casting doubt on the legitimacy of his citizenship claim.
Further evidence includes certifications from the PSA on Yang’s marriage, tax declarations for properties in his name, and corporate records linked to him, such as those from Empire 999 Realty Corporation and Sunflare Industrial Supply Corp. These companies are tied to suspicious land acquisitions, with records from the Land Registration Authority (LRA) revealing properties owned by Empire 999’s incorporators.
Empire 999 also owned the warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga, where a shabu shipment worth P3.6 billion was seized in 2023. The committee presented documents showing questionable land deals between Yang and the local government of Mexico, Pampanga, supported by Memorandums of Agreement, Deeds of Sale and municipal resolutions that bypassed legal processes.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has confirmed that some of the lands sold by Yang did not undergo the required conversion process, further highlighting the illegal nature of these transactions.
In its letter to Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, the Quad Committee emphasized the national security risks posed by these activities, urging swift action.
“These actions are blatant violations of our laws and call for immediate executive intervention,” the committee stated.
Assistant Solicitor Generals Hermes L. Ocampo and Gilbert U. Medrano and Senior State Solicitor Neil Lorenzo, who joined the press
conference, received the documents from the Quad Comm leaders.
House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga, House Deputy Majority Leader David “Jay-jay” Suarez of Quezon, Quad Comm Vice Chairman Romeo Acop of Antipolo City, 1-Rider Partylist Rep. Rodge Gutierrez, La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V, and Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun also joined the ceremony.
The joint committee also called for the OSG to work with agencies such as the LRA, Securities and Exchange Commission, PSA, DAR, Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Department of Justice to ensure a thorough investigation and legal enforcement.
The committee warned that failing to address these violations could have dire consequences for national security and the economy.
“We trust your office will prioritize this matter and act swiftly to protect the integrity of our nation’s legal and economic systems,” the Quad Committee said.
The document handover is part of the Quad Committee’s broader investigation into illegal POGOs, the drug trade, land grabbing by Chinese nationals, and extrajudicial killings linked to the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Yang has emerged as a central figure in these inquiries, representing what the committee views as a larger issue of foreign nationals exploiting legal loopholes to control land and businesses in the Philippines. The committee called for decisive action to prevent further illegal acquisitions and mitigate their harmful effects.
