Michael Yang’s family tried to make CDO their ‘kingdom’ – PAOCC

Yang Jian Xin, a Chinese national who is also known by multiple aliases including Tony Yang and Antonio Maestrado Lim, answers questions during the public hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality on September 24, 2024. on the alleged link of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators to human trafficking and other illegal activities. The elder brother of Michael Yang, the former economic advisor to former President Rodrigo Duterte, was allegedly involved with an illegal online gaming facility allegedly owned by dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — The family of Michael Yang, the former economic adviser of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, tried to make Cagayan de Oro their “kingdom,” Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Executive Director Gilbert Cruz told senators on Tuesday.

Yang was a central figure in the Pharmally scandal. His family is also allegedly involved in the illegal activities of Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) which the Senate is investigating.

“They tried to establish yung parang kingdom nila ‘yung lugar na iyon…Ang nakikita namin, parang hindi ka puwedeng magpasok ng business sa area na ‘yun kung hindi ka dadaan sa [kanila],” Cruz said during the Senate panel on women’s probe into Pogos.

READ: Hontiveros: Yang siblings’ ‘deep ties‘ to Pogos, syndicates exposed

(They tried to establish that area as their kingdom. We’ve seen that some cannot enter their businesses in the area if they don’t pass through them.)

Panel head Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked Cruz which area he was pertaining to. He said it was Cagayan de Oro.

Cruz said the Yang family’s businesses are related to Pogos. Some of their firms include a hotel and a rice mill, which are under the name of Michael’s elder brother Tony.

READ: Senate Pogo probe: Tony Yang admits he is also ‘Antonio Lim’

The PAOCC chief also said the Yangs also own Sanjia Steel. While authorities have yet to inspect the firm, intel reports that the PAOCC received all point to a Pogo operation in the corporation.

Earlier, Hontiveros said it is much clearer now that the Yang family’s business is a “massive crime syndicate” that has operated in the country for far too long and has victimized far too many.