By their own admission, lawmakers are taking an eternity to complete the investigation into the alleged roles played by former president Rodrigo Duterte, now Sen. Bong Go and Michael Yang in the drug trade and the Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs), which were legitimized during the unlamented Duterte regime.
Since 2018, the Dutertes have been accused of protecting illegal Chinese operations in the country as they pivoted away from the US and drew closer to China. Aside from legalizing POGOs, the Duterte regime also launched a bloody war against drugs, with lowly drug operators being shot dead and alleged competitors of Michael Yang in Northern Mindanao being eliminated, including mayors. With a mountain of evidence in their possession, lawmakers could now file criminal complaints against the Dutertes, Yang, and their cohorts, possibly including Sen. Bong Go.
Michael Yang went to Davao City to sell Chinese cellular phones below market prices, getting thousands of residents to purchase his gadgets and worming himself into the good graces of the city’s ruling political dynasty through Bong Go, Duterte’s Man Friday, and valet. Traders surprised by Yang’s business model conducted a background check on the Chinese trader and noted it was not financial wizardry that made him amass millions.
In May 2017, Col. Eduardo Acierto of the Philippine National Police (PNP) narcotics group exposed Lin Weixiong and Yang as facilitators of shabu smuggling and had been acting as such even before Duterte’s presidency. He and Inspector Lito Pirote swore that Lin, known by his alias Allan Lim or Wen Li Chen, was busted in a Cavite shabu laboratory in 2003. Acierto went into hiding when superiors linked him to the shabu trade. He was dismissed and reinstated but then kicked out after he was slapped with two graft cases. In 2019, was snatched from his Bacolod home and never seen again.
Acierto exposed Michael Yang’s operation to Duterte but apparently, Malacanang was not in the mood to read his report and was sent again to the doghouse, only to be charged with facilitating the release of P6.4-billion shabu shipment in two magnetic lifters. Customs intelligence agent Jimmy Gumban was also charged and convicted for the crime only to come out of prison recently to accuse Davao City Rep. Apollo “Pulong” Duterte as co-owner of the shipment along with his brother-in-law, Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio’s husband Manases, and Michael Yang. Acierto claimed that Yang was also in the drug business in Northern Mindanao.
However, it would be unwise for a big-time business operator to put his amber eggs in one basket, which is exactly the reason why Yang, as economic adviser to Duterte, diversified into the POGO business and that huge moneymaker, Pharmally, which cornered about P3-billion in contracts from lawyer Christopher Lao, who headed the procurement service of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and who monopolized the imports of face masks and face shields. Pharmally also employed Linconn Ong, a Cebu businessman. Both Lao and Ong are close to Bong Go. The Pharmally moneybag was Lin Weixiong, Michael Yang’s partner. Yang supposedly financed Xionwei Technologies, a POGO. Lin’s wife is the president of Xionwei Technologies and heads seven POGO sub-licensees in Metro Manila, Clark Freeport, Cebu and Cagayan de Oro.
Michael Yang’s brother Yang Hongjiang also owns a POGO, Full Win Group. Lin’s wife is treasurer on Michael’s behalf, probers found out. The brothers Yang, spouses Lin and Willie Ong also came together in companies named Paili and Pai Li. Lin Weixiong and Michael Yang are the head honchos of Pharmally Biological and Pharmally International Holdings, which were launched in 2017. They also hosted a Hong Kong banquet for Duterte on their way to a pilgrimage to Xi Jinping. Lin Weixiong flew the coop after he was summoned by the Senate during its 2021 Pharmally inquiry.
In September 2023, the House of Representatives committee on dangerous drugs tagged Michael Yang, Chinese name Yang Hongming, in shabu trafficking. Half a ton of shabu worth P3.6 billion was found in a Pampanga warehouse linked to him. The contraband was secreted away in a warehouse owned by Empire 999 Realty under president Willie Ong, treasurer Michelle Sy and VP Aeidy Yang. “They’re Michael’s Chinese partners in three other firms,” said committee chairman Rep. Ace Barbers.
