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Tony Yang, the brother of President Rodrigo Duterte's economic adviser Michael Yang, appears before the Senate hearing called by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality in Pasay City on September 24, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

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SENATE HEARING- POGO

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/172716009923820240924-senate-pogo-tony-yang-MD344.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Tony Yang appears before the Senate Committee on Women on Sept. 24, 2024. Screengrab/Senate livestream"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span data-offset-key="8shea-0-0" id="isPasted"><span data-text="true">Tony Yang, the brother of President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s economic adviser Michael Yang, appears before the Senate hearing called by the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality in Pasay City on September 24, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News</span></span> </span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><p>MANILA — Chinese national Tony Yang, the brother of former Duterte aide Michael Yang, admitted Tuesday having obtained fraudulent Philippine government documents in order to set up local businesses with &quot;convenience.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/9/18/senate-panel-to-wrap-up-pogo-alice-guo-probe-sets-eyes-on-quiboloy-next-1239">• Senate panel to wrap up POGO, Alice Guo probe, sets eyes on Quiboloy next</a></div><p>During a hearing of the Senate Committee on Women on illegal POGOs, senators led by chairperson Risa Hontiveros tried to establish Yang&#x27;s ties to the expansive POGO network that served as alleged front for several illicit activities.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/9/23/hontiveros-says-yang-brothers-engaged-in-massive-crime-syndicate-1409">• Hontiveros says Yang brothers engaged in &#x27;massive crime syndicate&#x27;</a></div><p>Yang, who said he arrived in the Philippines &quot;<span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">around 1998 or 1999,&quot; needed an interpreter because he supposedly cannot speak Tagalog, Bisaya or English, a claim senators found hard to believe. </span></p><p>&quot;Hindi ako makapaniwala na quarter of a century na kayo sa Pilipinas, sa Cagayan de Oro included, at di pa kayo marunong mag-Bisaya, Filipino fluently. Dili ako buang para maniwala dyan (I&#x27;m not crazy to believe that),&quot; Hontiveros said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>BORN IN CHINA</strong></div><div><strong></strong><br/></div><p>Through the help of interpreter Carolyn Batay, Yang confirmed he is a Chinese national.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/9/19/michael-yang-s-brother-could-be-trying-to-flee-ph-paocc-730" id="isPasted">• Michael Yang&#x27;s brother could be trying to flee PH - PAOCC</a></div><p>&quot;Yes, I confirm [I am a Chinese national],&quot; Yang said, adding he was born in Fukien province in the city of Jin Jiang.</p><p>Hontiveros then showed the panel some of the official Philippine documents obtained from Yang, including a late birth registration, Alien Certificate Registration, and an LTO registration, all bearing different names such as Yang Jian Xin, Antonio Maestrado Lim, and Tony Yang.</p><p>&quot;Why do you have a birth certificate if you were born in China?&quot; Sen. Jinggoy Estrada asked.</p><p>&quot;It was my maternal grandfather who helped me process the birth certificate during the third or fourth year I came to the Philippines... I was not aware of this, maybe he thinks it was for my convenience so I can build a business here,&quot; Yang said. </p><p>Yang said it was the same grandfather who convinced him to set up a business in the Philippines, giving him about P600,000 of capital. That grandfather, Yang said, had died about 10 years ago.</p><p>&quot;Kaya n&#x27;ya ginagamit kasi patay na. Because they&#x27;re already dead, how can they answer our questions?&quot; Estrada said.</p><div><span data-teams="true" id="isPasted"><span dir="ltr"><span color="" UI="" white-space:=""></span></span></span></div><p>Sen. Joel Villanueva lamented how Yang&#x27;s bogus Philippine documents allowed him to &quot;wreak havoc&quot; on the Philippines.</p><p>&quot;Hindi Filipino, tapos may TIN, may LTO, may ACR na iba-iba pangalan... Ni hindi makasalita ng Tagalog, Bisaya tapos dito naghahasik ng lagim sa bansa natin. Dito lang sa Senado napaka-weird na may interpreter tayo, para tayong binabalasubas dito,&quot; Villanueva said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>NO POGO BUSINESS &#x27;AT THE MOMENT&#x27;</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Meanwhile, Yang said he has no POGO business &quot;at the moment&quot; and denied that he was an officer of POGO service provider <span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">OroOne</span> Corp. despite it listing him as its president. </p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/6/13/pogo-paradise-how-the-philippines-became-a-hub-for-illegal-pogos-1524">• POGO Paradise: How the Philippines became a hub for illegal POGOs</a></div><p>Yang said the company was leasing his property, but he was never part of its operation.</p><p>&quot;The reason my name was in OroOne was because during that time I rented out the place to them. It was only that time that they needed help in the permits and all, that&#x27;s why I was connected, it was the bookkeeper who reported,&quot; he said. </p><p>But Hontiveros was not convinced as documents indicated he was a majority shareholder of the POGO service provider.</p><p>&quot;Sir, hindi lang kayo hiningan ng tulong. Sa mga papeles na ito, kayo ang presidente, kayo ang majority shareholder ng OroOne,&quot; she said. </p><p>Yang was arrested on Sept. 19 after arriving at the NAIA Terminal 3 from Cagayan de Oro.</p><p><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(65, 65, 65);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said</span> Yang could have been attempting to leave the Philippines when he was caught because he was carrying P1.4 million cash and other currencies.</p><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO: </strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GUuZU_HVtb0?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>"Why do you have a birth certificate if you were born in China?" Sen. Jinggoy Estrada asked.</p>

"Why do you have a birth certificate if you were born in China?" Sen. Jinggoy Estrada asked.

Tony Yang admits having fraudulent PH birth certificate 'obtained by grandpa'

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Tony Yang admits having fraudulent PH birth certificate 'obtained by grandpa'

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published September 24, 2024 01:33 PM PHT

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Updated September 24, 2024 03:01 PM PHT

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