Michael Yang, who served as former President Rodrigo Duterte’s economic adviser, is a “key factor” in the Chinese intelligence operations in the Philippines.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros revealed this on Tuesday during the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality’s hearing into the alleged link of former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, also known as Guo Hua Ping, to the illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) in her town.

According to Hontiveros, Yang, who was also implicated in Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.’s multi-billion peso procurement of allegedly overpriced Covid-19 supplies and equipment, played a major role in the proliferation of POGOs in the country.

“Colleagues, make no mistake. In the two years of hearings, or four years if we include the 18th Congress hearings on the social cost of POGOs that led to the pastillas scam exposé, one thing is clear: POGO is a monster. It is a monster that engages in human trafficking, money laundering, torture and espionage,” she said.

She then presented a photo of Yang with She Zhijiang, a confessed Chinese spy who linked Guo to the espionage activities of China’s Ministry of State Security, the principal civilian intelligence, security, and secret police agency of the People’s Republic of China.

“But who fed this monster? Friends, this photo was given to us by one of our key informants, and it further deepens what we already know: Michael Yang is a key factor in Chinese intelligence operations here,” she said.

She added: “Michael Yang, who was involved in Pharmally and, if reports are accurate, in drug operations here. Michael Yang, the economic adviser of the former president. We have been exploited and betrayed.”

The revelation of She, who is currently detained in Thailand for human trafficking, forced labor, and scams, of Guo’s link to the China-funded espionage activities in the country was corroborated by Wang Fugui, his former cellmate.

According to She, Guo’s mayoral campaign in Bamban was orchestrated by China’s Ministry of State Security, an accusation that Guo denied during a previous Senate panel hearing.

Hontiveros said her team attempted to speak to She in prison but was “prevented from accessing” him.

“While we have been prevented from accessing She Zhijiang, through our research and inquiries, we have obtained some information that proves this individual does not have ordinary access,” she said.

“These files, from my understanding, are available only to police officers or those granted special access to classified government information. She Zhijiang has access to the files of Guo Hua Ping and her family members because, according to him, Guo Hua Ping is an intelligence agent,” Hontiveros said.

She noted that some files were released for the Senate panel’s hearing.

Guo was absent from the final hearing of the Hontiveros-led panel after Presiding Judge Annielyn Medes-Cabelis of Regional Trial Court Branch 167 prohibited her from attending due to a scheduling conflict.

Guo, together with her co-accused Jamielyn Santos Cruz, Thelma Barrogo Laranan, Risa Sapnu Yturralde, Rowena Evangelista and Rachelle Joan Malonzo Carreon, was scheduled to attend the court hearing earlier in the day.

Chinese communist propaganda

Hontiveros also bared the proliferation of Chinese communist propaganda in the country through establishments linked to She.

The senator specifically mentioned a spa called Yatai in Pasay City, where her informants received massages as one of the locations used to spread anti-United States statements.

“This Yatai spa was once associated with She Zhijiang, but we don’t know if he still has a controlling interest. My informants got massages there a few weeks ago, and they took a photo of this QR code that was freely available in the buffet area,” she said.

“This is what appeared when we clicked on the QR code: a Telegram group called ‘Hongsheng’ — sounds familiar, doesn’t it? — to support overseas bosses,” she said.

Hontiveros continued: “I don’t know if this is the same Hongsheng of Guo Hua Ping in Bamban, but nothing surprises me anymore at this point. It also contains a video with a mishmash of anti-US statements and a call to serve the motherland.”