The House quad committee will investigate troll farms allegedly being financed by a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) boss to spread misinformation to undermine its ongoing investigation into the illegal industry.

Panel co-chair Dan Fernandez said in an interview on Thursday that they have received reports that resources from POGOs, allegedly owned by former president Rodrigo Duterte’s economic adviser Michael Yang, are being utilized to bankroll a campaign to verbally assault and discredit the committee.

"King of POGO" Richard Lim, according to Fernandez, is reportedly acting as the frontman of the so-called Yang-owned POGOs.

"There are reports that those who finance the trolls come from POGO money owned by Michael Yang. Richard Lim is the one who took over Michael Yang's POGOs," Fernandez said.

"We need to find out the veracity of the issue because someone challenged us in a news article asking why [we] do not tag Richard Lim who is said to be famous in the Chinese community because he is perpetuating POGOs now under Michael Yang," he continued.

Yang's name keeps on emerging in congressional probes. He has been at the center of various criminal activities tied to illegal drug trafficking, and POGOs, among others.

He is reportedly among the incorporators of Empire 999 Realty Corporation, the realty firm that owned a warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga, where a P3.5 billion shabu was seized in September last year.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, also an anti-POGO crusader, is keen that Yang is a key figure in Chinese intelligence operations in the country.

The ongoing House probe has uncovered evidence linking the illegal drug trade to POGO operations. 

The proceeds from the drug trade were allegedly being used by foreign nationals especially Chinese to corrupt public officials to acquire lands and set up businesses in the country using bogus Filipino birth certificates and government-issued identification cards as a front for their criminal acts.

Quad comm chair Ace Barbers said that the troll operations not only intended to attack its committee members but also intimidate and discourage witnesses who have exposed significant connections between illegal drugs and corruption.