MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers have bared a supposed deep-rooted criminal syndicate, allegedly led by president Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential adviser Michael Yang and his associate Allan Lim during the House of Representatives’ Quad-Committee hearing on Friday.
The alleged illegal activities range from drug trafficking and money laundering to running illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) with the purported collusion of corrupt government officials.
During the said hearing, Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. and Deputy Speaker David Suarez presented a “matrix,” showing how Yang and Lim, along with Chinese nationals, allegedly led a complex criminal network.
“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,” said Gonzales.
“Mukhang may natisod po kami,” Suarez said.
(It looks like we stumbled upon something.)
“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.” said Suarez.
(It seems there’s a connection, and the cast of characters is the same. A criminal enterprise has penetrated us and has been operating with ‘quiet impunity’ – and from these operations, it appears they are monopolizing crimes that strike at the very basic fundamental rights – human trafficking, kidnapping, prostitution, murder, love scams, crypto scams, and all kinds of cyber scams.)
In his presentation, Suarez alleged that Yang and Lim used legitimate businesses as fronts for their criminal activities.
He added that DCLA Plaza, a shopping mall in Davao, was said to be serving as a hub for Yang’s supposed drug distribution network.
Suarez further said the duo had “layered” their corporate operations using various companies to hide their illicit activities—all of these while expanding their criminal operations into the Pogo industry.
“Nung nakita po namin ang pattern ay sinundan namin pataas ang mga korporasyon na ito, stripped it of its layers, to get to the top and through 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 said.
(When we saw the pattern, we followed these corporations up, stripped it of its layers to get to the top, and through it all, we discovered and identified at least two main actors or players involved in the issue of illegal drugs and illegal activities associated with Pogos.)
One of these companies is Brickhartz Technology Inc., which has been suspected of being involved in several kidnapping cases and is linked to Pogo entity Xionwei Technology Co. Ltd., which is said to be connected to Lim.
The lawmaker noted that both Brickhartz and Xionwei were linked to the Baofu Compound in Bamban, Tarlac.
The Quad-Committee also found connections between Yang and Lim and Lucky South 99 in Porac, Pampanga.
Hence, Suarez warned that the alleged criminal syndicate has already extended its reach into the country’s national security and sovereignty.
“Nagsimula nang kamkamin, gamit ang iba’t-ibang korporasyon o mga indibidwal, mga banyaga pretending to be Filipinos sa pamamagitan ng pamemeke ng mga birth certificate at iba pang government IDs, ang ating lupain na dapat ay para sa Pilipino lamang,” Suarez said.
(It started with the accumulation of various corporations or individuals, foreigners pretending to be Filipinos by falsifying birth certificates and other government IDs, taking over our land that should be for Filipinos only.)
“This is a serious threat to our national security and to our very sovereignty as a nation,” he pointed out.