Police officers inspect an abandoned property in Barangay Senyora, Porac, Pampanga, on July 9, 2024. The property with resort-like amenities is believed to be part of an illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO), the Grand Palazzo Royale of the Lucky South 99, and used by its incorporators and Chinese big bosses for illegal activities, including scam modus, kidnapping, illegal detention, and human and sex trafficking activities. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- A matrix showing the alleged connection between illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations and drug trafficking through some Chinese nationals was presented during a joint House panel hearing on Wednesday.

House Committee on Dangerous Drugs Chairperson and Surigao del Norte 2nd District Representative Robert Ace Barbers said that based on three separate investigations conducted by different House committees, some incorporators of companies being linked to these illegal activities are “interlocking”.

Among the names that appeared in the matrix presented by House Committee on Public Order and Safety Chairperson and Santa Rosa City Representative Dan Fernandez is that of businessman Michael Yang. Yang, who once served as adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte, is the subject of an arrest and detention order from the House of Representatives for refusing to appear in the hearings on his alleged involvement in a P3.6-billion drug bust in Mexico, Pampanga, last year.

“It shows doon sa matrix na ‘yan ‘yung interlocking incorporators that actually is involved with some of the incorporator ng Empire 999. So for instance, ‘yung Paili Holdings, nandoon si Mr. Michael Yang… ‘Yung Empire 999, where the shabu was delivered doon sa warehouse ni Empire 999, ay Mr. Willie Ong naman ang Presidente noon. So there seems to be a link doon sa usapin ng mapagmamay-ari ng droga doon sa mga kumpanyang ito,” Barbers said in a phone interview with the media on Thursday.

“Doon naman sa POGO, ‘yung brother ni Mr. Michael Yang, by the name of Hong Jiang Yang, mayroong transfer of money apparently kay Mayor Alice Guo. So nakita natin na mukhang mayroong transfer of money from drugs apparently papunta sa POGO ng Bamban, Tarlac,” he added.

“These mga corporations, which are owned by Chinese citizens, which we also discovered and uncovered during our investigation… they are fake Filipinos. They are real Chinese citizens and they bought hundreds of hectares of lands in the country. Allegedly, this is assisted by no less than the LGU… [03:26] ‘Yung mayor dyan, ‘yung barangay captain dyan sa mga munisipyo where the lands were bought. So, kaya nakita namin, itong mga hundreds of hectares na ito are possible POGO sites din na gagawin nila,” Barbers noted.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Fernandez said that based on the case filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council against suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, she had 36 bank accounts allegedly involved in bank transactions amounting to P29 billion.

Of this amount, the alleged transactions between Michael Yang’s brother Hong Jiang Yang and Guo totaled P3.3 billion, according to Fernandez.

Guo was the subject of a Senate investigation on illegal POGO operations in her municipality in Tarlac.

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“According to this case, which is a public document, we were able to get that Hong Jiang Yang, the brother of Michael Yang, ay ka-transksyon niya si Alice Guo, with P3.3 billion na pumasok sa account nila. In other words, may umikot na pera sa account ni Alice Guo at sa account ng kapatid ni Michael Yang na si Hong Jiang Yang,” Fernandez said.

Both Guo and Yang have denied alleged links to POGOs.

“Ang tanong, ‘yung P29 billion na umikot na pera sa bank accounts ni Alice Guo and sa bank accounts ni Hong Jiang Yang na brother ni Michael Yang ay hindi natin alam kung saan nanggaling ang perang ‘yun, at saan pumuntang transaksyon. Only the AMLC knows,” Fernandez added.

Key figures in the matrix included Aedy Yang, an incorporator of Empire 999 Realty Inc., which allegedly owns the warehouse where the P3.6 billion worth of shabu was seized by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

The matrix showed that Aedy is also an incorporator of Golden Sun 999 Realty & Development Corp., alongside Rose Nono Lin, married to Allan Lim. They are also linked to Full Win Group of Companies, chaired by Yang, who was implicated in the Pharmally scandal.

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Fernandez said that Pharmally's incorporators include Lincoln Uy Ong and Gerald Cruz, the latter being a shareholder of Brickhartz Technologies, a support provider for Xionwei Technologies, a POGO owned by Weixiong Lin, also known as Allan Lim, who was allegedly involved in a 2003 shabu raid in Cavite.

According to Fernandez, Michael’s brother, Hong Jiang Yang, is an incorporator of Paili State Group Corporation, along with Rose Nono Lin and Hong Ming Yang, believed to be another alias of Michael Yang.

Sought for comment, Michael Yang’s legal counsel, Atty. Raymond Fortun, told ABS-CBN News that his client has “no comment”.

The joint house panels will continue its hearing next week.