Show-cause order issued vs ex-Duterte adviser Yang

THE House committee on dangerous drugs yesterday issued a show-cause order to Chinese businessman Michael Yang, an economic adviser of former President Rodrigo Duterte, to explain why he did not attend the panel’s hearing on the discovery of 560 kilos of shabu in a warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga in September last year.

The panel chaired by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers issued the order after Yang snubbed the probe yesterday, with his lawyer, Raymund Fortun, saying his client is in Dubai for a business trip.

Fortun initially told lawmakers that Yang was very busy, having left the country eight times since October last year, but Sta. Rosa Rep. Dan Fernandez, chair of the committee on public order and safety, found the reason unacceptable and urged the panel to subpoena Duterte’s friend to compel him to attend the next hearing.

But Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (PL, Abang Lingkod), chair of the committee on public accounts, moved that the panel issue a show-cause order, saying it should be done first “so we will not be accused of violating due process.”

Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop, chair of the committee on transportation, agreed with Paduano and the panel later voted six against one to approve Paduano’s motion.

Yang was invited to answer questions in connection with the P3.6 billion drug bust by the NBI and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) after the committee found out that Empire 999 Realty Corp., the company that owns the warehouse where the drugs were found, appears to be owned by Chinese citizens who have been previously linked to anomalous activities under the past administration.

It was through the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) port that the illegal drugs entered the country before being transported to Barangay San Jose Malino in Mexico.

The panel earlier discovered that Yang’s interpreter, Linconn Ong, a controversial figure in the Pharmally scandal, is an incorporator of a company with links to other companies, including Empire 999, owned by suspected Chinese drug lord Willie Ong whose real identity is believed is to be Cai Qimeng.

Pharmally was investigated after it cornered billions in contracts with the Procurement Service of