Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 14) — President Rodrigo Duterte and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Wilkins Villanueva took a trip down memory lane in an attempt to clear Michael Yang, the chief executive’s former economic adviser, of alleged drug ties.
In a taped Cabinet meeting that aired on Tuesday, Villanueva shared details of the 2004 anti-drug operation in a “clandestine laboratory” in Davao City, in which Yang was allegedly involved. He said Yang was not one of the “targets.”
“Ano ang allegation ni Acierto? Na si Michael Yang is involved sa clandestine laboratory ng Dumoy, Davao City,” Villanueva recalled, referring to dismissed police officer Eduardo Acierto.
[Translation: What was Acierto’s allegation? That Michael Yang was involved in the clandestine laboratory in Dumoy, Davao City.]
“Walang Michael Yang diyan (There’s no Michael Yang there),” Villanueva said as he showed the names of the targets during his presentation.
He identified the targets as Henry Tan (at-large), Long Shi Yi (at-large), Alex Co (at-large), Joey Co (dead), and Allan Sy (missing).
He also questioned the credibility of Acierto, saying the dismissed police officer has a standing warrant of arrest in connection with the smuggling in 2018 of billions of pesos worth of shabu hidden in magnetic lifters.
Villanueva said, “He is a wanted person…Can he be a credible person?”
Duterte also hit Acierto’s intelligence reports on Yang, recalling a time he doubted them.
“Itong kay Michael Yang, tiningnan ko iyong intelligence. Lahat ng intelligence input – puro galing kay Acierto lang. Kaya sabi ko nagduda dito, kasi taga Davao ito (Yang), 20 years na ito sa negosyo sa Davao,” he said in the same Cabinet meeting.
[Translation: I looked at the intelligence reports on Michael Yang. All the intelligence inputs are from Acierto. So, I doubted them because Yang is from Davao and has been in the business in Davao for 20 years.]
Duterte and Villanueva defended Yang anew after the senators grilled the Chinese businessman in a hearing last week over his alleged links to a certain Allan Lim, a suspected drug personality.
Acierto earlier presented a photo of Yang with Duterte and “Allan Lim,” who is allegedly involved in illegal drugs. The photo was published in a news report in 2019. The picture was shown by Senator Richard Gordon during the hearing on Friday.
Yang denied knowing Allan Lim but he said the man in the picture is Lin Weixiong, whom he had known since 2013.
Gordon also showed a copy of the profile of a certain Wen Li Chen also known as Allan Lim, an alleged “drug personality.”
The PDEA chief said Wen Li Chen is not the “Allan Lim,” who posed with Yang and Duterte for a photo.
“Ang liit ng ilong ni Wen Li Chen. Ang laki ng ilong ni Allan Lim,” he said.
[Translation: Wen Li Chen has a small nose while Allan Lim has a big nose.]
