National Press Club denies ties to Michael Yang, allows VP to go on leave over Guban claims

ABS-CBN News

<p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">MANILA — The National Press Club of the Philippines on Saturday said that Davao City businessman Michael Yang, a former adviser to then President Rodrigo Duterte and who has been implicated anew in the illegal drug trade, is not a member of the organization.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">It also announced that <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/18/23/former-nia-exec-found-guilty-of-harassment-oppression-of-employees">former National Irrigation Administration acting chief Benny Antiporda</a> has gone on a leave of absence from the press club after also being implicated in the drug trade by a former Bureau of Customs intelligence officer who testified before a four-committee House hearing in Pampanga on Friday.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/16/paolo-duterte-mans-carpio-michael-yang-linked-to-p6-b-drugs-shipment-case-1848">READ: Paolo Duterte, Mans Carpio, Michael Yang linked to P6-B drugs case</a></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“Mr. Yang is not, and was never, a member of the National Press Club nor affiliated in any way with the organization,” NPC president Leonel Abasola, who is also a stringer for state media Philippine News Agency, said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban told lawmakers that Yang and Antiporda, as well as Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte and lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio had been mentioned by a man who threatened him while the Senate was holding hearings in 2018 into P6 billion in shabu hidden in magnetic lifters that authorities intercepted that year.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">The press club added that its board of directors have accepted Antiporda’s offer to take a leave as NPC vice president “as he prepares to address, point by point, the allegations made against him.”</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Rep. Duterte, Antiporda, as well as Presidential Task Force on Media Security head Paul Gutierrez — a former press club officer and the man whom Guban said threatened him — have denied Guban&#x27;s allegations.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">The NPC has generally had friendly relations with the government since the Duterte administration, which <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/16/19/not-martyrdom-npc-says-ressa-arrest-done-in-bad-taste-but-not-harassment">it supported in issues like the libel case against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa</a>.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Guban is appealing a conviction for drug trafficking and has asked the House for immunity from prosecution. He has also sought the chamber&#x27;s protection as well as his inclusion in the government&#x27;s witness protection program.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-I9JNadHch8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div>

<p>Rep. Duterte, Antiporda, as well as Presidential Task Force on Media Security head Paul Gutierrez — a former press club officer and the man whom Guban said threatened him — have denied Guban's allegations.</p>

Rep. Duterte, Antiporda, as well as Presidential Task Force on Media Security head Paul Gutierrez — a former press club officer and the man whom Guban said threatened him — have denied Guban's allegations.

National Press Club denies ties to Michael Yang, allows VP to go on leave over Guban claims | ABS-CBN

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National Press Club denies ties to Michael Yang, allows VP to go on leave over Guban claims

National Press Club denies ties to Michael Yang, allows VP to go on leave over Guban claims

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 17, 2024 04:33 PM PHT

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Updated Aug 17, 2024 07:00 PM PHT

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National Press Club

Michael Yang

Benny Antiporda

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