Sen. Risa Hontiveros presents an undated photo of former Philippine National Police chief Benjamin Acorda Jr. (third from left) and Chinese businessman Tony Yang (second from left) during a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday presented during a Senate hearing several photos showing former Philippine National Police Chief Benjamin Acorda Jr. with some personalities being linked to illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos).
At the resumption of the Senate committee on women’s hearing, Hontiveros confronted Yang Jian Xin also known as Tony Yang with a photo of him and three others, including Acorda.
Yang is the elder brother of businessman Michael Yang, who served as the economic adviser of then President Rodrigo Duterte.
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“Pwede nyo bang ipaliwanag ang litratong ito. Meeting po ba yan? Sino ang mga kasama at ano ang pinag usapan nyo?” Hontiveros asked.
(Can you explain this photo? Is it a meeting? Who else is there, and what did you discuss?)
But Yang, through an interpreter, explained that it was not a meeting as they just visited the police chief of Cagayan during that time.
Asked about the name of the police chief he was referring to, Yang said: “My English is not very fluent but I call him Acola or Acoda.”
“Acorda,” Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada could be heard correcting Yang.
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“He’s the former chief PNP,” Estrada added.
Hontiveros later asked Yang if he had known Acorda for a long time, as she presented an older photo of them together.
But Estrada surmised that the second photo was taken when Acorda was still the regional police director of the Cagayan province.
“Matagal na po ba kayong magkakilala?” Hontiveros pressed Yang.
“Yes when he was still in Cagayan as the director, we know each other,” Yang said.
At this point, Hontiveros asked again if Yang was aware that he had a warrant of arrest in China for fraud.
When Yang said he was not aware, Hontiveros is almost certain that local law enforcement authorities and high government officials were fully aware of it.
“So in relation to the photos I talked to you about, I really wonder what our high officials in government are doing fraternizing with the wanted fugitive,” she said.
Hontiveros next asked Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Dong Calugay if he knows Acorda. Calugay has been dragged into the Senate probe over her alleged romantic relationship with dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alicce Guo.
Calugay admitted to knowing Acorda as the highest official of the PNP. But the mayor stressed he had no relationship with the former police chief.
It was at this point that Hontiveros showed another group photo with Acorda, Calugay and Guo’s brother, Wesley.
“Namasyal po kami dyan your honor kasi sya po ay dating police of chief ng Sual,” Calugay said, referring to Acorda.
(We visited there, your honor, because he is the former police chief of Sual.)
The photo was taken at Camp Crame in Quezon City, according to the mayor.
“Tama ba na unang mga araw nila iyon bilang chief PNP?” Hontiveros asked.
(Is it correct that those were their first few days as chief of the PNP?)
When Calugay said he could not recall, the senator asked why Wesley was with them.
“Sumama lang po sa amin. Gusto rin po nyang makita yung pinakamataas po sa PNP,” the mayor said.
(He just joined us. He also wanted to meet the highest officials in the PNP.)
READ: Ex-PNP chief allegedly took bribe to help Alice Guo, siblings flee PH
Hontiveros asked the same question to Guo and Wesley’s girlfriend, Cassandra Ong. Both Guo and Ong, however, claimed no knowledge why Wesley was in that visit to Acorda at Camp Crame.
During last week’s hearing of the committee, state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) Senior Vice President of Security and Monitoring Cluster Retired General Raul Villanueva claimed hearing rumors that police officials, including a former chief PNP, allegedly received bribes to help Guo escape the country in July.
Guo was ordered arrested by the Senate for her failure to face the women panel’s probe into her alleged ties to Pogos. She was arrested in Indonesia on Sept. 4.
After Villanueva’s claim, Acorda and other former police chiefs dared the Pagcor official to name names.
“All I can say is, his statement should be clarified,” Acorda was quoted as saying in a statement last week. “He should identify the individual.”
“The integrity of former Chiefs of PNP are at stake. The statement is sweeping and is unfair for those innocents,” he added.
Meanwhile, Tony Yang was arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport upon his arrival from Cagayan de Oro on Sept. 19 for allegedly “misrepresenting himself as a Filipino” and falsifying documents.
According to Hontiveros, Yang is the president of a service provider for a Pogo hub connected to a Pharmally executive.
Pharmally is the pharmaceutical corporation also investigated by the Senate over its allegedly anomalous deal with government in connection with pandemic-related supplies.