The House Committee on Dangerous Drugs warned Tuesday that arrest warrants will await Michael Yang, former president Rodrigo Duterte's ex-presidential economic adviser, and his alleged cohorts should they defy the panel's summon in connection with its probe into the P3.6 billion worth of shabu seized last year.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Acer Barbers, chairperson of the panel, said show-cause orders would be issued initially, followed by warrants of arrest if Yang and his associates, being implicated in the drug bust, snub the committee's summons.
"We have not accused them yet. Our call to them is that they should go. Attend the hearing, clarify the issue that their company is involved in, or they are involved in the drug issue," Barbers said.
"We have a saying, 'flight is indicative of guilt'. In that case, the committee report might be different and might headed that way."
The panel has been holding a series of hearings into the P3.6 billion shabu bust seized from a warehouse in Mexico, Pampanga, in September last year.
The investigation is set to resume on Wednesday, 22 May.
The drugs yielded was the biggest catch so far under the Marcos administration, according to Justice Secretary Boying Remulla.
The panel's investigation revealed that Empire 999, which owns the warehouse, was managed by personalities previously linked to anomalous activities during the Duterte administration.
During its last hearing on 8 May, it was discovered that Lincoln Ong, an executive of Pharmally involved in the Covid-19 medical procurement scandal--and interpreter of Yang, was found to be an incorporator of Empire 999, where the massive shabu was seized.
Barbers previously said a link between the firms and Yang, whose interests are so intertwined, needs to be established.
The summon against Yang came after his name cropped up for being a suspected drug trafficker.
He was also accused of being in cahoots with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, which managed to secure the lion's share of government deals involving Covid-19 supplies despite being a startup.
In early May, however, the Ombudsman cleared Yang, the alleged Pharmally financer, of liability for purportedly conniving with the firm, enabling it to corner billions in favored contracts with the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management at the height of the pandemic.