Ex-Duterte economic adviser cited in contempt for skipping probe

The House Committee on Dangerous Drugs on Wednesday cited former president Rodrigo Duterte’s economic adviser, Michael Yang, in contempt for repeatedly defying a congressional subpoena.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers approved the motion to cite Yang in contempt after he snubbed anew the summon of the panel, which has been looking into the P3.6 billion worth of shabu seized in a warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga, in September last year.

Yang is the purported incorporator of Empire 999, which owns the warehouse in Mexico where about 530 kilos of shabu were seized.

“Citing the violation committed by Mr. Michael Yang under Section 11, Paragraph A, for refusing without legal excuse to obey summons and invitations, there is a motion to cite Mr. Michael Yang in contempt,” Barbers said.

Moreover, the chairperson ordered a 30-day detention on Yang at the Bicutan Jail in Taguig City, whom he said had left Manila to fly to Dubai on 12 May.

The House Sergeant-at-Arms, Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, and other law enforcement agencies have been directed to locate Yang's whereabouts for the full enforcement of the arrest warrant.

The committee summoned Yang to appear before the hearing after Lincoln Ong, a Pharmally official and his alleged associate, was said to be an incorporator of a company with links to Empire 999 and other firms.

The panel has been inviting Ong to appear in the congressional probe since October last year but he has yet to heed the summons to date.

Barbers saw the need to invite Yang, whose testimony, he claimed, is crucial in “unraveling the complex web of illegal drug smuggling activities linked to Empire 999.”

Eduardo Acierto, a dismissed Philippine National Police colonel who virtually testified in the investigation, pinned Yang as the same person he had flagged in 2017 for alleged involvement in illicit drugs.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, in 2021, however, cleared Yang of the allegations, saying he was not involved in the illegal drug trade.