Dismissed cop Acierto said Digong 'protector' of Michael Yang; placed P50-M bounty on his head

Dismissed police colonel Eduardo Acierto has maintained his previous assertations that former president Rodrigo Duterte is the “protector” of alleged big-time drug lord Michael Yang, who briefly served as his economic adviser in 2018.

Acierto testified at Thursday’s House quad committee’s investigation into Duterte’s brutal drug war but only virtually as he is currently on the hide due to a P50-million bounty that the former president allegedly placed on his head. 

"Actually, they sued me. I have an arrest warrant so I'm hiding. There is a P10 to P50 million [bounty] on me so they can kill me," Acierto said in Filipino.

Acierto was then the deputy director for administration of the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG) when he exposed in a 2017 intelligence report with the help of his informant the alleged involvement of Yang and another Chinese national Allan Lim into the illegal drug trade.

Acierto told lawmakers that Yang and Lim were Duterte’s “close friends, whom he shielded from accountability.

The dismissed cop detailed how the report coursed through to then-PNP Director Camilo Cascolan, then-PNP chief Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, then-Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Aaron Aquino and lastly to Oscar Albayalde, who replaced the outgoing De la Rosa.

"Nothing happened, they even pinned me. They made various allegations against me and they also denied the reports,” he said.

Acierto lamented that such confindential report, which he deemed was the “biggest accomplishment” in his career, would cost the lives of his Police Capt. Lito Perote and MSgt. Gerry Liwanag.

In April 2019, Perote was abducted by armed men in bulletproof vests in Bacolod City and still missing to this day. Liwanag, meanwhile, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in San Jose del Monte City in February 2021.

Yang, whom Acierto claimed had operating drug laboratories in Mindanao since the early 2000s, including a clandestine shabu manufacturing hub in Dumoy, Davao City, had been cleared by the PDEA in 2021. 

Wilkins Villanueva, who was then-PDEA Director General at the time, told the quad comm that the decision to absolve Yang was anchored on the lack of “immediate evidence” linking him in the illegal drug trade and he was not infuenced by the higher-ups.

Futhermore, he stressed that they could not heavily rely on Acierto's “raw information,” because the same only come from his informant “that needs validation.”

“I didn't cleared Michael Yang because I owe a debt of gratitude to President [Duterte]. I cleared  Michael Yang because I have personal knowledge that there is no evidence against [him],” Villanueva lamented.

How can I implicate him if I have no evidence? It will never stand in court, Mr. Chair. ” he added.

Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun did not buy Villanueva’s explanation.

“If you did the evidence properly, that name will appear. Let's face it, you absolved Michael Yang and Allan Lim because you owe the President because he appointed you to PDEA,” Khonghun insisted.

According to Accierto, Yang’s shabu manufacturing hub in Dumoy was raided by authorities on 31 December 2004, yielding over 100 kilos of high-grade shabu with a street value exceeding P300 million.

Lim, on the other hand, was the culprit behind the clandestine laboratory, which was raided by the PDEA in Cavite in July 2018.

Recovered from the laboratory were P10.4 billion worth of drugs and equipment for the manufacturing of illegal drugs.

Acierto said Lim was arrested during the operation but was later released due to technicality.

Yang was also embroiled in the P3.6-billion shabu haul in a warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga in September last year, whose proprietors allegedly  incude Lincoln Ong, an executive of Pharmally involved in the Covid-19 medical procurement scandal