Fil-Am leaders in SF Bay Area still in shock over Yee’s arrest

• Many express dismay, disappointment

• Some see dentist arrested with California state senator as a “fall guy”

• Gunrunning scheme is farfetched, say some critics

Community activist Hermy Almonte. INQUIRER PHOTOS

SAN FRANCISCO – The arrest of disgraced California State Senator Leland Yee on Wednesday, March 26, sent a powerful shockwave among Filipino Americans in the Bay Area, many of whom have been fiercely loyal to the politician long considered a staunch ally of the community.

“This is very shocking to me,” Alice Bulos, the acknowledged “Grand Dame of Filipino American Politics,” told FilAm Star at her South San Francisco home Monday, March 31.

“Leland is a very big disappointment because many in the Filipino community here invested their trust and confidence in him, and their precious vote,” Bulos explained.

Yee, now suspended from the California Senate, was arrested on six counts of public corruption, specifically, for “scheming to deprive his constituents of his honest services,” and one count of conspiracy to traffic into the United States high-caliber firearms from the Philippines.

In the complaint filed by FBI undercover agent Emmanuel V. Pascua, Yee allegedly accepted campaign donations in exchange for favors disguised as “official acts” of his Senate office.  At the time of his arrest, Yee was running for the California State Secretary post; he has since withdrawn his candidacy.

Pascua also accuses Yee, Bay Area political consultant Keith Jackson, and a Filipino American dentist from Daly City, Dr. Wilson Lim, of plotting to purchase high-powered firearms, including shoulder-fired missiles, from Islamic groups in Mindanao and to sneak them in to the U.S.

The FBI initially discovered the illegal dealings of Yee as a result of an investigation into criminal racketeering activity by reputed Chinese mobster Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow.  Chow unknowingly introduced Jackson, a campaign aide of Yee, to undercover agents, according to the FBI agent’s affidavit supporting the complaint.

Lim a fall guy?

The jolt that came with news of Yee’s alleged corrupt ways and underworld exploits grew stronger when FBI agents that same morning arrested Lim, a native of Iligan City (Lanao del Norte province, Philippines), whom the affidavit named as the politician’s accomplice in the purported gun trafficking conspiracy.

“I know Dr. Lim and his wife.  They even came here to consult with me about something,” said Bulos, who has always been the go-to lady for Fil-Am individuals and groups needing advice on matters ranging from politics to fundraising, through to community and socio-civic project organizing.  “Never did I see in him even the slightest capability to engage in something like gun running.  To me, it looks like Dr, Lim was just used.”

On Monday, March 31, Lim’s attorney, Jonathan McDougall, issued a public statement:  “Dr. Wilson Lim and his family are devastated with his arrest, and the allegations contained in (the FBI complaint). Dr. Lim is eager to have all the facts presented and has confidence in the (judicial) process.”

Yee to the rescue

“The guy couldn’t even hurt a fly,” added a Fil-Am from San Mateo who spoke to Fil-Am Star only on the condition that his name be withheld.  “His health has been failing him, following his heart attack two or three years ago that left him in a coma for several weeks.  And now, he’s even undergoing dialysis.”

Democratic Party leader Alice Bulos

According to the source, Lim was in a catatonic state, dazed and confused throughout the ordeal – from the time he was handcuffed by the FBI, hauled to court, allowed to leave after posting bail, and up until he returned home.  “He was numb – speechless — he didn’t know what was going on,” the source added.

The source also said that, as far as he knew, it was Yee who put up the $50,000 bail bond for Lim’s release and arranged for the engagement of McDougall as his defense attorney.

The same source said that true to the buzz around the community, Lim has had serious financial troubles.  According to him, Lim needed to file for bankruptcy and sell the family’s property in ritzy Hillsborough, adding that because of his health, he has retired from dental practice and is now “deprived of earning a decent income.”

‘Clean-nose’ front

Admittedly though, Bulos said, Yee had helped many individuals and groups within the Bay Area Filipino community.  “That’s why I am very shocked.  It was out of character, very inconsistent with the way he presented himself in public and to media.”

Since 2004, Yee, a child psychologist, had flaunted himself, among others, as a tough crusader against violent video games.  At the same time, he forwarded bills or actively campaigned to ensure greater transparency in government and, significantly enough, to stop illegal contributions to political campaigns.

In the aftermath of the mass shootings in Newtown (Connecticut) and Aurora (Colorado), he authored bills calling for tougher gun control laws for California.

“State Senator Leland Yee is a classic example of a liberal government official who is so much of a hypocrite that he makes me want to throw up,” said Don Azarias, a Fil-Am member of the National Rifle Association, in an email blast sent to several community leaders following Yee’s arrest.

“That guy is as bad as some politicians in the Philippines, maybe worse,” another Fil-Am, Lina Montero, rued.  “Am I surprised that this type of stuff happens? No, not at all but I feel so much betrayed.”

Community activist Hermy Almonte, former San Leandro Unified School District trustee and city council candidate, is similarly outraged by the “bad example Yee has set.”

Almonte said:  “I’m sure there will be an inept few who’d think that public servants of Asian descent — Chinese, Filipinos, Vietnamese, etcetera — cannot be trusted.  But even without that, what Yee did was a slap in the face of those who believed in him.  The element of trust in California politics is diminished.”

All the way from the East Coast, a D.C.-based community activist who refused to be identified, lamented, “It’s a shame Leland Yee, who had been working closely with the Filipino American community in the Bay Area, is now going to have to account for his betrayal of public trust.”

Honorary Filipino



According to Rodel Rodis, national president of US Pinoys for Good Governance, Yee was considered the pro-Filipino non-Filipino in the California Legislature, at least until the election in 2012 of Rob Bonta as the state’s first Filipino American assembly member.

Responding to our request for comment, Rodis wrote in an email to FilAm Star:

“Yee represented a district with a sizeable Filipino population which included Daly City.  He had been a ubiquitous presence in Filipino community events and, for the last seven years, his weekly columns, with his smiling photo, appeared in almost all of the Bay Area Filipino community newspapers.  Almost every Filipino community leader in San Mateo (County) has received an official certificate of appreciation from Yee.

“Yee was a particular favorite of the local Philippine Consulate where he appeared regularly at consular events often as guest speaker. At last year’s Independence Day celebration held at the San Francisco Intercontinental Hotel on June 12, Sen. Yee lavishly praised outgoing Consul General Marciano Paynor, Jr., disclosing that he had big plans for Paynor after he retires from the Foreign Service.

“Yee raised more money from the Filipino community (far greater than that obtained by any Filipino candidate) for his various campaigns for public office. This is an amazing achievement as the Filipino community is notoriously cheap when it comes to contributing to political campaigns unlike the Chinese, Indian and Jewish communities.”

The Philippine Consulate declined to comment on Yee’s Lim’s purported links to weapons sources in the Philippine military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

“Because of the critical nature of the ongoing investigation, we cannot make any comment at this time and would defer to our main office (Department of Foreign Affairs) in Manila,” said Consul Reginald Bernabe to FilAm Star by phone.

Regular ‘balikbayan’

While many in the FilAm community were convinced of the unlikelihood that Yee and Lim would consummate the arms deal, much less of the weapons landing on U.S. shores, the senator had all the markings of a credible broker who was very “well-connected” in the Philippines.

Sources close to FilAm Star claimed that Yee made several trips to the Philippines the last two years.  It was during his most recent trip last year that he went to Mindanao with Lim, where he was “surrounded by armed guards,” to quote the affidavit filed by the FBI undercover agent.

The same sources said it was during this 2013 visit that Yee found opportunities to meet, and hobnob with luminaries in Philippine politics and business, including Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Sergio Osmena III and members of the iconic Ayala family.

Yet one source had a different take on what apparently were the reasons forYee’s unofficial visits to the Philippines.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, the guy has somebody special there, just as he has one here in the Bay and one in LA — all Filipinas,” he said.  “Leland Yee has got this thing for Pinays.”

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