PAOCC exec believes Michael Yang’s brother about to leave PH before arrest

An official of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) expressed belief Friday that the brother of former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang was about to leave the country before he was arrested in Manila.

“Kasi marami siyang dalang pera. Almost P1.4 million ‘yung dala niya tapos mga foreign currencies pa. Tapos may mga dala na siyang gamit bago nung mahuli natin siya dito sa Manila,” PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz told Super Radyo dzBB.

(He was carrying a lot of money. He had almost P1.4 million with him in foreign currencies. Moreover, he had his things with him when we caught him here in Manila.)

Authorities arrested Yang Jian Xin, also known as Tony Yang and Antonio Lim, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 on Thursday evening for being an undesirable alien.

Cruz said Yang was also carrying his Chinese passport.

“Actually, every time na lumalabas ‘yan ang dala niya 'yung Chinese passport niya. Kaya tingin ko ito baka lalabas. Hindi lang natin alam kung tatakas na,” he added.

(Actually, every time he leaves, he brings his Chinese passport with him. So I think he was about to leave the country. We just don't know if he was about to escape.)

Silent Yang

According to Cruz, Yang was placed under the radar of PAOCC in relation to alleged operations of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in Cagayan de Oro.

When asked if Yang was also connected to the POGO operations in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga, Cruz said they are still looking into it.

“‘Yung imbestigasyon na ginagawa sa Congress at saka sa Senate, ‘yung imbestigasyon ng droga, ng POGO, at saka nung Pharmally, talagang ‘yung mga pangalan na uma-appear doon sa mga dokumento nila halos magkakaparehas,” he said.

(The ongoing investigations in Congress and the Senate, specifically those related to drugs, POGO, and Pharmally, the names that appear in the documents are almost identical.)

Yang is said to own the Philippine Sanjia Steel Corporation, which has a warehouse that was constructed in 2018 in Cagayan de Oro, the same time the POGO hubs in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac Pampanga were being built.

He was also previously invited to a House hearing in connection with the POGO at the Alwana compound in Cagayan de Oro, which he also owned. 

Meanwhile, Michael Yang has also been linked to illegal POGOs.

His brother Hongjiang Yang was also alleged to have transactions with the Baofu Land Development, which is a company of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo. 

Cruz said they call Yang Jian Xin the “silent Yang” as his name was not often mentioned during hearings, unlike his brother Michael Yang.

“Pero kung mapapansin mo sa mga dokumento, doon sa mga business documents nila, yung pangalan niya yung nakalagay. So hindi mo talaga mapagdududhan na ito yung matandang kapatid ni Michael Yang,” he said.

(But if you take a closer look at their business documents, his name is the one stated there. So you can't really doubt that he's Michael Yang's older brother.)

The PAOCC official said that the older Yang would use his alias “Antonio Lim” for his businesses in the country.

Chinese syndicates

Cruz also said he believes that big syndicate is involved

“Oo, pwede nating sabihin na isa ito sa pinakamalaki. Kasi hindi milyunan, ano, bilyunan ang usapan dito,” Cruz said.

(Yes, we can say that this is one of the biggest [syndicates]. Because we are not only talking about millions, we’re talking about billions here.) 

For Cruz, Chinese syndicates have entered the country. 

“Pwede natin sabihing ganon. Napasukan po tayo ng mga Chinese syndicate dito. At ‘yun nga ho, napag-aralan nila kung paano sila magko-cover using ‘yung mga government IDs, government documents natin, saka ‘yung mga identities,” he said.

(We can put it that way. It seems we've been infiltrated by Chinese syndicates here. And  they've learned how to cover their tracks using our government IDs, government documents, and stolen identities.)

Relaxed

Meanwhile, Cruz said that he noticed that dismissed mayor Alice Guo, who is being linked to the POGO hub in Bamban, and Cassandra Li Ong, the authorized representative of the POGO hub in Porac, appeared relaxed during the hearings.

Guo and Ong have been attending hearings of the Senate and the House since their return to the country following their separate arrest in Indonesia.

“‘Yun nga ho ‘yung napansin ko, no? Even ‘yung hearing kahapon. Talagang… parang alam na nila ‘yung sagot, alam na nila kung paano nila lulusutan ‘yung sagot na ‘yun. Ewan ko, parang kung babasahin mo ‘yung body language nila parang relaxed na relaxed,” he said.

(That's what I noticed, right? Even during the hearing yesterday. It's like... they already knew the answer, they already knew how to dodge the question. I don't know, it's like if you read their body language, they seemed really relaxed.)

Guo has been charged with qualified trafficking before a Pasig court while Ong is facing a qualified trafficking complaint before the Department of Justice.

Both are also facing a money laundering complaint before the DOJ.—AOL, GMA Integrated News