Senate POGO hearing shifts to Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 24 September) – Senator Risa Hontiveros said here Monday the Senate investigation on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) would shift today, Tuesday, September 24, to this city and Misamis Oriental where Tony Yang, elder brother of Michael Yang, has extensive business interests.
Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, which is conducting the hearing on illegal POGOs, said they will investigate how Tony Yang, also known as Antonio Maetrado Lim in the local business circle, was able to operate here.
She said Yang masqueraded as a legitimate businessman who made friends with local traders , government officials and the police.
Yang’s business interests reportedly include an P800 million steel manufacturing plant at the 3,000-hectare government-owned Philippine Veterans Investment Development Corporation (Phividec) industrial estate in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
She said Yang, who allegedly operates a POGO hub in an exclusive subdivision here, has links with the controversial Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, which was involved in a multi-billion pesos scandal over allegations of overpriced medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Yang is a colorful character. His name also cropped up during our investigation on Pharmally,” Hontiveros told reporters here during the launch of the political campaign of former Senators Bam Aquino, Kiko Pangilinan and human rights lawyer Chel Diokno.
Yang, the elder brother of Michael Yang, the former Presidential Economic Adviser of former President Rodrigo Duterte, was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport right after his arrival from Cagayan de Oro last September 19.
Hontiveros said her staff managed to get pictures of Tony Yang with local officials, businessman and police officers as he went about presenting himself as a legitimate businessman in Cagayan de Oro.
Among the officials who posed pictures with Yang are Mayor Rolando Uy and Brigadier General Ricardo Layug, Police Regional Office-10 director. Both have denied any business dealings with Yang in separate interviews with local radio stations.
The staff of Hontiveros also got copies of six gun permits reportedly issued to Yang from the Philippine National Police Firearms and Explosives Unit in Camp Alagar, this city.
Hontiveros , however, said they will not invite any officials from Cagayan de Oro regarding their connection with Yang, whose real name is Yang Jian Xin, a Chinese national.
His arrest coincided with congressional hearings about allegations that drugs and contraband were moving through the Philippine Sanjia Steel Corporation, which also operates a 20-hectare port at the Phividec industrial estate.
Sta. Rosa, Laguna Representative Dan Fernandez said Yang operates a POGO hub in Alwana Subdivision, a high-end gated subdivision in Barangay Cugman, this city.
Cagayan de Oro Councilor Romeo Calizo said he sponsored a resolution in 2022 calling for a police inspection on the facility but nothing came out of it. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
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