Senator Risa Hontiveros floated on Wednesday, July 10, the alleged connection of Michael Yang, former presidential adviser to former president Rodrigo Duterte, and the Pharmally group's alleged ties to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, Hontiveros brought up a certain "Gerald Cruz" who is listed as one of the incorporators of Pharmally Biological Company and Philippine Full Win Group of Companies Inc.
Based on records the senator showed, Yang is the president of the Philippine Full Win Group of Companies Inc. She added that Xionwei Technology Co. Ltd. Inc. which is said to be owned by Yang, is listed as the email address under Brickhartz Technology Inc.
Hontiveros bared that Brickhartz, is linked to the POGO hub in Bamban, Tarlac
"Malinaw pa sa sikat ng araw, through Gerald Cruz, who is the link between the POGO in Bamban ni Alice Guo and Michael Yang. Through the email address, Michael Yang may be involved in these criminal operations na iniimbestiga natin sa (that we're investigationg with) POGO.
Meanwhile, the name Allan Lim or Lin Wei Xiong's name was also mentioned during the hearing for his supposed closeness to Yang. Lin's wife, Rose Nono Lin, is also incorporator of Pharmally Biological Inc., a sister company of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, which was awarded by the government with over P8-billion in contract to supply the Department of Health (DOH) with Covid-19 supplies.
In an interview, Hontiveros said that the "Gerald Cruz connection" is something that they will definitely investigate further.
"Dahil maaalala ninyo, yung Pharmally investigation ay isang pinakamalaking imbestigasyon ng Senado noong nakaraang Kongreso. At dalawang taon na kaming naghihintay ng new matter tungkol diyan. Bagong resource person, o witness o whistleblower o panibagong piraso ng ebidensya (If you canr emember, the Pharmally investigation is one of the biggest Senate investigations in the previous Congress. We have been waiting for two years for a new matter regarding this. A new resource person, a witness, or a whistleblower or another piece of evidence)," she said.
"Yung naikonekta o naikokonekta namin ang dating Pharmally investigation dito sa kasalukuyang imbestigasyon laban sa POGO is not necessarily a new matter about the Pharmally scam. 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 (Connecting the former Pharmally investigation into this new investigation against POGO is not necessarily a new matter about the Pharmally scam. But it looks like Pharmally group is involved here, the same cast of characters. That's why it's important that we get to the root of it, because this group, the Pharmally group, is possibly linked to our POGO problems)," she added.
Hontiveros mentioned that they may invite Cruz to the next hearing to see if the connection they made to Michael Yang and the evidence would lead them up to Duterte himself.