MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives ordered the arrest of Michael Yang, economic adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte after snubbing the committee on dangerous drugs conducting a probe on the September 2023 multi-billion peso drug bust in Mexico, Pampanga.
Surigao del Norte Rep Ace Barbers, House committee on dangerous drugs chairperson, confirmed on Wednesday, July 31, that House Secretary General Reginald Velasco signed the arrest order.
Yang was cited in contempt last July 10 for failing to appear before the hearings.
Based on government records, Yang left for Dubai last May 12 but the lookout order puts the Department of Foreign Affairs on alert to locate Yang, said Barbers.
“We will have to provide information to the Immigration and DFA so that the DFA and our Immigration can likewise alarm other countries about the arrest order na inisyu dito sa House of Representatives,” Barbers said.
Yang was invited to the congressional inquiry after it was found out in an investigation that Lincoln Ong, a controversial figure in the Pharmally scandal who serves as his interpreter, was an incorporator of a company with links to other companies including Empire 999.
Empire 999 owns the warehouse where the P3.6 billion peso worth of shabu (crystal meth) were stored.
Yang has denied involvement with Pharmally, the corporation scandalized for supplying overpriced medical equipment for the government’s Covid-19 pandemic response.
