Yang Jian Xin, a Chinese national who is also known by multiple aliases including Tony Yang and Antonio Maestrado Lim, during the public hearing by the Committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality at the Senate in Pasay City on the Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo), September 24, 2024. He is the elder brother of Michael Yang, the former economic advisor to former President Rodrigo Duterte. – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Northern Mindanao has filed 16 complaints against Tony Yang before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Cagayan de Oro City. INQUIRER PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Northern Mindanao has filed 16 complaints against controversial Chinese businessman Yang Jian Xin, who is more known as Tony Yang and an older brother of Michael Yang.
The NBI Region 10 filed the complaints before the Office of the City Prosecutor here. Citing NBI Regional Director Patricio Bernales Jr., the office said the complaints against Tony Yang include falsification of public documents, perjury, and violation of a 1936 law that required judicial authority before any person can use an alias, except as a pseudonym for literary purposes.
Tony Yang was arrested last Sept. 19 in Manila after flying in from Cagayan de Oro City.
READ: Hontiveros: Yang siblings’ ‘deep ties‘ to Pogos, syndicates exposed
During a Senate hearing on Philippine offshore gaming operators(Pogos) last Sept. 24, Yang admitted to being a Chinese citizen who had been doing business in this city since 1998.
Known as Tony Yang in his neighborhood in Barangay Cugman here, he also used other names such as Antonio Maestrado Lim, Tony Lim, and Antonio Lim, the NBI Region 10 noted.
“In the course of the investigation, NBI-10 uncovered the fact that respondent uses these pseudonyms to put up several corporations and register them at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Cagayan de Oro City,” the agency said.
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These businesses include Oro One Inc. that was established in October 2016; Philippine Sanjia Steel Incorporated, established in September 2018; and Mis. Or Sand and Gravel Corporation, established in September 2016.
“Respondent concealed his identity as a Chinese national, obtained a Filipino birth certificate, and used his Filipino names as incorporator of these corporations, thus committing falsification in the corporations’ Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws. He was also charged for committing perjury and illegal use of alias,” the NBI Region 10 said, adding that more complaints will be filed as investigation and case buildup progress.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros previously revealed that Yang obtained a Filipino birth certificate through late registration in 2004, some 26 years after his arrival in this city, under the name Antonio Maestrado Lim.
Hontiveros tagged Tony Yang as the “true architect” of the shadowy business operations that involved him and his younger brother Michael Yang.
Michael Yang, an economic adviser to then-President Rodrigo Duterte, was linked to Pharmally Pharmaceuticals, which was involved in the controversial multibillion pesos contract with the government for COVID-19 supplies that were found to be overpriced.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier said that the filing of cases against Yang takes precedence over deporting him for being an undesirable alien. Ryan D. Rosauro