September 20, 2024 | 10:15am
MANILA, Philippines— The brother of former presidential adviser Michael Yang has been arrested in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Friday, September 20.
Yang was the economic adviser of former president Rodrigo Duterte. He has been linked to multiple scandals, from the Pharmally mess during the COVID-19 pandemic to the illegal activities in Philippine Offshore and Gaming Operations (POGOs).
Yang’s brother, 54 year old Yang Jianxin, was detained by the BI and Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) on Thursday evening when he arrived from Cagayan de Oro.
“He faces a deportation case for undesirability and misrepresentation, after allegedly misrepresenting himself as a Filipino and falsifying information regarding the [Securities and Exchange Commission] certification of Phil Sanjia Corporation,” the BI said in a Facebook post.
Phil Sanjia Corporation is a steel corporation owned by Jianxin.
The employees of the said company filed complaints against Jianxin’s company after its failure to remit their Social Security System (SSS), PAG-IBIG and PhilHealth contributions.
Jianxin has also gone by the name of Antonio Lim, which is the name listed in Phil Sanjia Corporation as its president.
The BI said that Jianxin is in the custody of the PAOCC.
If found guilty, Jianxin will be deported and blacklisted. The deportation will only happen once all of his cases are resolved, the BI said.
Another brother of Michael, Hongjiang Yang, was proven to have direct transactions with former Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, who faces multiple cases due to her alleged ties to POGOs. One of the cases she faces is misrepresentation.
The Philippine government has found itself dealing with a sudden slew of misrepresentation and immigration cases following the POGO investigations at the Senate.
Guo’s fingerprints matched that of Chinese national Guo Hua Ping’s, according to the National Bureau of Investigation. Despite allegations of being a Chinese national, Guo has a legitimate birth certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
