Credit: The Acierto Report
An image of Michael Yang with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte from a leaked 2017 intelligence report that connected Yang to the narcotics trade. |OCCRP
Lawmakers have connected former president Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential adviser, Michael Yang, and his associate Allan Lim to a “network of criminal activities” in the country, saying that these activities involve the complicity of corrupt officials.
During the recent hearing, Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. and Quezon Rep. David Suarez uncovered how Chinese nationals helped several unnamed government officials accuse anything against political rivals during Duterte administration through the alleged “matrix.”
“These Chinese nationals are setting up corporations all over the country, taking advantage of our laws by perpetrating and promoting illegal activities, to the great prejudice of our country and the Filipino people,” Gonzales said.
Using records and papers from the Securities and Exchange Commission, open sources, and company investigations, “a pattern, a partnership, and an alignment” between companies that are doing illegal activities has been found.
The said illegal activities included drug trafficking, extrajudicial killings, money laundering, and running illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).
Suarez, for his part, said that the two had “layered” their business activities by using multiple companies to hide their illegal activities and fake names as nominees in corporate structures to hide who owned the companies.
He also said that Yang and Lim used real companies to hide their illegal activities. For example, the DCLA Plaza shopping mall in Davao City is said to be the center of Yang’s drug distribution network.
Another company that officials are investigating is Brickhartz Technology Inc., which is related to Xionwei Technology Co. Ltd., a POGO operation run by Lim, who has been accused of being involved in several kidnappings.
The panel also uncovered connections between Yang and Lim to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp., which was involved in irregular procurement of medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Empire 999 Realty Corporation, associated with Yang, was also found to have a role in a 2023 discovery of a P3.6-billion shabu shipment in Mexico, Pampanga.
Suarez further disclosed that Yang’s older brother, Tony Yang, also known as Antonio Maestrado Lim, is believed to be the mastermind behind the Yang brothers’ criminal syndicate in the country.
Tony Yang operates several businesses in Cagayan de Oro City, including the former POGO hub Yang Zi Hotel and Philippine Sanjia Steel Corp., which has been linked to rice smuggling and human trafficking.
He also serves as president of Oro One, Inc., a service provider for Xionwei Technologies, one of Lim’s POGO firms.
The panel also discovered that foreign nationals associated with Yang and Lim were illegally acquiring land using forged birth certificates and government IDs.
“Mukhang may koneksyon at pare-pareho ang cast of characters. A criminal enterprise has penetrated us and has been operating with ‘quiet impunity’ – and out of these operations, eh inuubos at nagkaka-monopoly na po ata to crimes that strike at the very basic fundamental rights – human trafficking, kidnapping, prostitution, murder, love scams, crypto scams at lahat na ng cyberscams,” Suarez said.
“Nung nakita po namin ang pattern ay sinundan namin pataas ang mga korporasyon na ito, stripped it of its layers, to g”t to the top an” thru it all, we have discovered and identified at least two main actors or players in the issue of illegal drugs and illegal activities associated with POGOs,” Suarez added.
The House Quad Committee is expected to recommend filing criminal, civil, and administrative cases against individuals named in the matrix. (TCSP)
