Hontiveros links alleged Michael Yang's brother to Bamban POGO hub

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday bared information from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) which links the alleged brother of former presidential adviser Michael Yang to the raided POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac.

"Ang kumpanya ni Alice Guo, ang BAOFU, ay may direktang transaksyon sa joint account ng dalawang tao— ang isa si Yu Zheng Can, na incorporator ng Hong Sheng, ang POGO na ni-raid sa Bamban, Tarlac. Ang kasama niya sa account ay isang nagngangalang Hongjiang Yang," Hontiveros said in a press conference.

"Who is Hongjiang Yang, you may ask? Kapatid po siya ni Michael Yang. Yes, the same Michael Yang na dating economic presidential adviser kuno ni Duterte. In short, the money of Michael Yang's brother was used to fund HongSheng, the raided Bamban POGO," she added.

Further, Hontiveros shared that Yang is an incorporator of Full Win Group of Companies, a firm owned by Duterte's former presidential adviser, wherein Gerald Cruz is also an incorporator.

In the last Senate hearing, Hontiveros said that Cruz is an incorporator of Brickhartz Technologies Inc., an illegal POGO firm whose documents were seen in the raided Bamban POGO hub.

Cruz is also an incorporator of Pharmally Biological, according to Hontiveros.

Pharmally Biological is a firm that is being linked to Michael Yang. It was earlier reported as the sister company of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation—the company that was involved in the government's procurement of alleged overpriced COVID-19 supplies.

"Sabi ko nga, mukhang one big, happy Pharmally pala itong mga POGO at Pharmally members. Baka nga itong Pharmally pala ang 'PHARM' na kinalakihan ni Alice Guo," she quipped.

Hontiveros said the Senate committee on women, children, family relations, and gender equality, which she leads, will continue to dig deeper into the issue.

"Hindi po kami hihinto hangga’t matunton at maputol ang mga ugat ng POGO," she said.

GMA News Online sought the comment of Yang and his brother through the former's legal counsel Raymond Fortun who said that he does not know Yang's brother.

"I don't know a Hongjian Yang po. I don't even know that Michael has a brother," he said.

Last week, Fortun maintained that Pharmally Biological is a different company from Pharmally Pharmaceutical which was involved in the Philippine government's purchase of COVID-19 supplies during the pandemic.

"It was established during the Senate investigation that Pharmally Biological, where Mr. Michael Yang had shares, never had business in the Philippines," Fortun told GMA Integrated News.

"Pharmally Biological is a different corporation from Pharmally Pharmaceutical, the company involved in the purchase of COVID supplies during the pandemic," he added.

In the same interview, Hontiveros said Duterte's possible link in POGOs could be raised if they would find out that the former presidential adviser had a direct hand in these operations.  

"Kung ma-establish namin na talagang may koneksyon si Michael Yang bukod sa kanyang kapatid, hindi lamang sa Pharmally – kundi dito sa POGO sa pamamagitan ng hindi lamang iisa, kundi iilang POGO companies na ang mga papeles ay nahahanap sa mga raided na POGO hub tulad sa Bamban, Tarlac then syempre — dahil naging mataas na adviser siya kay Duterte at malapit sa dating presidente, then of course, maitatanong din namin kung ano ang posibleng koneksyon ng dating presidente sa POGOs na ito," she said.

(If we could establish that Michael Yang has a connection aside from his brother, not just to Pharmally— but also to POGO thru not just one, but several POGO companies whose documents are found in the raided POGO hubs such as the on in Bamban, Tarlac then of course— because he was a senior adviser to Duterte and close to the former president, then of course, we could also ask what is the possible connection of the former president to these POGOs.) 

She noted that Duterte was linked in the previous Senate investigation into the Pharmally fiasco due to Yang.

"'Yun yung susunod na dots na titignan kung maikokonekta o hindi...Nu'ng nakaraang imbestigasyon ng Senate blue ribbon nung nakaraang Kongreso sa eskandalo ng Pharmally, tapos ngayon lumilitaw ulit 'yung pangalan ni Duterte at least in connection sa pangalan ni Michael Yang na lumitaw na sa mga panimulang ebidensyang nakuha namin ay talagang posibleng may koneksyon din dito sa mga POGO na ito. So aalamin po namin yun as the investigation continues," she added.

(These are the dots that we have to check whether they are connected... In the past investigation of the Senate blue ribbon committee of the recent Congress of the Pharmally scandal, now Duterte's name is reappearing at least in connection with the name of Michael Yang that itself appeared in in the initial evidence we have collected shows a real possibility there is a connection with these POGOs. So we will know more about this as the investigation continues.) 

Responding to this statement, former presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said Hontiveros is "desperately bent on connecting the former president to the controversial pharmacy anomaly" which he noted is currently being investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman, and POGO.

"There is absolutely no factual and  legal bases to link FPRRD in any corrupt practice. Her obsession to tarnish the reputation of PRRD is insatiable," Panel said.

"She has been abusing this right given to Congress. Her apparent intention is to malign the character of PRRD and at the same time she wants to be politically relevant and preparing to run for a higher office. She always want(s) to be in the public eye for the name recall and media mileage," he quipped.

Panelo said Hontiveros should "focus on introducing legislative bills that will address the basic problems of the like [of] poverty, lack of education, and issues on health, public works, agriculture, trade and the like instead of nauseous grandstanding."—AOL/RF, GMA Integrated News