MANILA — The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said on Thursday night that the eldest brother of Chinese businessman Michael Yang may have been trying to leave the Philippines when he was apprehended at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Yang Jianxin, also known as Antonio Lim, was intercepted at NAIA Terminal 3 after arriving from Cagayan de Oro around 8:30 p.m., according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI). His arrest was carried out under a BI mission order.
PAOCC Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz suggested that Manila was unlikely to be Yang’s final destination, noting that he was carrying P1.4 million in cash and other foreign currencies.
“Yun ang tinitignan namin kasi medyo mainit ang trail nila. Ang tingin namin baka sumibat ito kaya inunahan na namin,” Cruz said.
(“That’s what we’re looking into because the trail is getting hot. We think he may have been planning to flee, so we acted first.”)
Cruz added that Yang’s possession of large amounts of money, including multiple currencies, indicated possible plans to convert it to dollars or other foreign currencies for his escape.
Aside from the cash, Yang was also found with Chinese passports, multiple Philippine IDs under the name “Antonio Maestrado Lim,” a Philippine-issued permit to carry firearms, and a luxury watch valued at over P2 million.
Cruz said authorities will investigate how Yang acquired the Philippine IDs, adding that Yang faces a deportation case for misrepresentation and undesirability.
“Nagpapanggap siyang Pilipino. Siya ay isang Chinese national na nag assume ng Pilipino name na Antonio Maestrado Lim. So, from that meron na siyang violation, ‘yung tinatawag nating violation of immigration laws. Ito ‘yung misrepresentation na nagpapanggap siya na Pilipino. Lumalabas na isa siyang undesirable alien,” Cruz stated.
(“He’s pretending to be Filipino. He is a Chinese national who assumed the Filipino name Antonio Maestrado Lim. That alone is a violation of immigration laws — misrepresentation by pretending to be Filipino. This shows he’s an undesirable alien.”)
Cruz added that they would investigate how Yang managed to obtain official documents like passports and birth certificates, as the documents appeared authentic.
Yang’s arrest was revealed by Rep. Dan Fernandez during the House Quad Committee hearing on Thursday. Fernandez stated that Yang owns Yangze Group Trade Inc., a company involved in importation that expanded into various businesses, including Yangze Rice Mill and Sanjia Steel Corporation, where he serves as president.
“A lot of hundred of millions of pesos enter in this Yangze Rice Mill under the Golden Sun… which is owned also by the brother of Michael Yang, in the name of Tony Yang,” Fernandez said.
The lawmaker also alleged that the Sanjia Steel Corporation warehouse in Cagayan de Oro is near a port, providing a route for smuggling goods.
Fernandez suggested that Cagayan de Oro could be used by the Yang brothers for drug operations and illegal smuggling. Michael Yang was previously ordered arrested by the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs in July for not attending hearings on the P3.6-billion worth of illegal drugs seized in Pampanga.
Michael Yang, a former economic adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte, has been linked to corporations associated with Empire 999 Realty Corp., the owner of the warehouse in Pampanga where the drugs were found. He has denied these allegations.
Fernandez said Yang Jianxin would be invited to testify in the next Quad Committee hearing to explain how he managed to establish a corporation in the Philippines and acquire land as a Chinese national.
BI officials confirmed that Jianxin would be deported to China after his pending cases in the Philippines are resolved.