How corporate layering suggests to a link between POGOs and Chinese drug lords

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on Wednesday, November 27, bared possible links between the illegal drug trade and Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), highlighting the layers of corporations used to conceal these connections.

PDEA Assistant Secretary Renato Gumban said the agency began its investigation after 560 kilos of shabu were seized from a warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga, on Sept. 24, 2023.

The warehouse was owned by a certain Willie Ong, also known as Cai Qimeng. Ong holds 49% of Empire 999, one of the seven companies whose assets Malacañang has asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze, as the House Quad Panel investigates them.

Ong co-owns Empire 999 with Aedy Yang. However, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed that none of the owners of Empire 999 are Filipino; they are all Chinese.

“Supposedly it’s a Filipino owned corporation but it turns out that all the incorporators of the company are Chinese nationals,” NBI Task Force Against Illegal Drugs chief Jonathan Galicia said. 

These Chinese nationals were able to own a business because they possessed fake birth certificates, according to Galicia.

In July 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered the revocation of Empire 999’s certificate of incorporation. In the order, the SEC listed Willie Ong, Elaine Chua, Michelle Sy, Aiedy Yang, and Jack Yang as the incorporators.

Aedy also owns Golden Sun 999 and Yatai Industrial Park. He co-owns Golden Sun 999 with businesswoman-turned-aspiring politician Rose.

Rose owns several companies, including the controversial Pharmally and another tied to POGOs. She has a direct link to former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang, as they hold roles in the same business entities.

Here are the companies where Rose Nono Lin and Michael Yang have ties to: 

Paili Holdings Corp. is a general construction business. Gumban said the PDEA believes that this business firm is responsible for constructing POGO buildings. 

Michael Yang is the chairman of Full Win and a stockholder of Paili Estate and Holdings. More notably, Yang is also the financier and guarantor for Pharmally, the pharmaceutical