Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Screenshot from Zoom)

Former president Rodrigo Duterte's economic adviser, Michael Yang, has been invited to attend the next hearing of the  Committee on Dangerous Drugs for alleged links to the P3-billion drug bust in Mexico, Pampanga last year. 

The invite was confirmed Sunday, May 12 by Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, longtime chairman of the committee. 

“This matter has now gone from a simple illegal drug smuggling to a national security concern," said Barbers, who described Yang as an "alleged drug lord". 

In past hearings of the committee, Empire 999, the company that owns the warehouse where the P3 billion drugs were ordered stored, was found out to be owned by Chinese nationals. 

They also owned other shell companies with personalities who have been previously linked to anomalous activities under the past administration.  

During a May 8 hearing, it was learned that Lincoln Ong--the controversial figure in the Pharmally scandal and Yang's interpreter--was an incorporator of a company with links to other companies including Empire 999. 

In a Power Point presentation by Committee on Public Accounts Chairman Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Joseph "Caraps" Paduano, Yang was alleged to have links to Ong. To find out the connection, Sta. Rosa City lone district Rep. Dan Fernandez moved that for Yang be invited in the next hearing. 

Controversial firm Pharmally had cornered billions in favored contracts with the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) then-headed by Christopher Lao, for the government's medical supply needs during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Ong revealed that the acquisition of supplies abroad was financed by Yang, as Pharmally had no financial capacity.  

In the latest turn of events, the Ombudsman has indicted another Pharmally executive and close friend of Yang in the Pharmally case. 

It was further established in the House probe that most of the incorporators of the different companies were actually Chinese nationals who present fake Philippine documents to make it appear that they are Filipinos. 

“I always say that we have no problems with Chinese nationals doing legitimate business in our country. But doing these illegal drug activities is another story," Barbers said. 

"We need to establish the link between these companies and Michael Yang, the financier of Pharmally. It is not as simple as it seems," said the veteran solon from Mindanao. 

"These personalities and their interests are so intertwined and intricately woven in an elaborate multi layered company structure that resembles a maze deliberately designed to avoid detection and ultimate liability in case the scheme is discovered." 

“The activities of the other companies have not been unearthed yet but the incorporators have gone into hiding already and have started disposing their assets. There is more than meets the eye. We intend to get to the bottom of this issue in order to find out if indeed the drug bust is just the tip of the iceberg,” added the Nacionalista Party (NP) stalwart. 

“The connection of alleged drug lord Michael Yang to these drug activities is no surprise. Remember that in the past administration, he was named by a top official of the PNP (Philippine National Police) who was then tasked to investigate illegal drug activities. It was discovered that the one on top of the drug trade was Michael Yang," noted Barbers.