Duterte’s ex-adviser Yang misses House probe on P3.6 billion drug bust

May 23, 2024 , 11:43 PM

By Gabriel Kim Leal

(May 23, 2024) – A former economic adviser of former president Rodrigo Duterte did not attend the committee hearing of the House of Representatives on Wednesday regarding the P3.6 billion drug seizure in Mexico, Pampanga.

Michael Yang is allegedly involved in several corporations linked to Empire 999 Realty, Inc., the warehouse where more than 530 kilos of shabu were seized last September. They were hidden in Chinese tea bags.

Despite an invitation from the panel on dangerous drugs, Yang failed to show up.

“(We are) seeking the former Duterte adviser because based on documents, he is an incorporator or stockholder or financier of several interlocking corporations linked to Empire 999 Realty, Inc.,” said Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, who chairs the committee.

Yang was instead represented by his attorney, Raymond Fortun, who explained that the Chinese businessman from Davao is currently out of the country.

Yang allegedly has financial ties to Omni and Pharmally Pharmaceutical, corporations involved in anomalies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2018, Duterte denied that Yang was his economic adviser. But he contradicted himself in 2021.

“Sinabi ko sa kanya, ‘You advise me, so you are my adviser.’ Walang problema ‘yan because he was there for 20 years in Davao doing business and I knew him,” said Duterte in his late-night public address.

The panel noted that three incorporators of Empire 999 Realty, Inc. and other entities, Willie Ong, Aedy Tai Yang, and Jack Tai Yang, are not Filipino citizens.

“The three were able to obtain Philippine passports using spurious and questionable documents,” added Barbers.

The panel called on the Philippine Statistics Authority, Department of Foreign Affairs, and Securities and Exchange Commission to cancel their birth registrations, passports, and corporate documents.

It also requested the Land Registration Authority to invalidate 292 land titles issued to the respondents.

“There is some pattern here to hide questionable activities behind a maze of corporate structures,” said Barbers.

(PM)

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