MANILA, Philippines – Should strong connections between former President Rodrigo Duterte and illegal offshore gaming operators be established through his former economic adviser Michael Yang, focus might shift from suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo to the former state chief.
In a virtual press conference on Monday, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate committee on women and children conducting the hearing on illegal POGOs revealed that Yang’s brother allegedly had direct transactions with Baofuland Development Inc., the company suspected to be owned by the embattled town chief who is currently in hiding.
Apart from being a presidential economic adviser of Duterte, Yang was also one of the central figures during the Pharmally controversy at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Well kung talagang ma-establish namin na may koneksyon si Michael Yang bukod sa kanyang kapatid. Hindi lamang sa Pharmally kundi dito sa POGO hindi lamang sa pamamagitan ng isa o iilang mga POGO companies na na ang mga papeles ay nahahanap sa mga raids ng mga POGO hub tulad ng sa Bamban, Tarlac,” said Hontiveros.
“Syempre dahil naging mataas na adviser siya kay Duterte at malapit sa dating presidente then of course maitatanong din namin kung ano ‘yung posibleng koneksyon ng dating presidente sa POGOs na ito,” said Hontiveros.
Earlier, Hontiveros revealed the likelihood of Yang’s involvement after his firm, Xion Wei Technologies Inc. was found out to be using the same email address as that of Brickhartz Technologies Inc. – a Pogo company whose documents were found in the raided Bamban offshore gaming center.
The senator also surfaced the possibility that Guo may be connected to “bigger syndicates” because her Baofuland Development Inc. where the raided gaming company Zun Yuan Technology was located had direct link to Yang’s brother.
Potentially, the same Pharmally characters could likewise be involved in illegal POGO operations, said Hontiveros.
“Pero mukhang Pharmally group ito, same cast of characters. Kaya mahalagang we get to the root of it, dahil mukhang itong grupong ito, itong Pharmally group, ay posibleng nandun nga sa roots ng problema natin sa Pogo,” she said.
